The High Rock
by Pollen972
Summary: Ponyboy knows it's wrong to sneak out, but jumping from the High Rock is an East-side rite of passage and it's completely unfair that his brothers won't let him. This is a stand alone story but it takes place in my Raising Ponyboy AU. Spanking will be in later chapters so please don't read if that offends you.
1. Chapter 1

It was my idea to go to the lake. Johnny hadn't really wanted to, especially at night, but I told him it had to be then as it was the only time we could guarantee it would be pretty much deserted. He'd tapped quietly on my bedroom window at about 9pm just as we'd planned and I'd quickly wriggled out to meet him. It wasn't often that I snuck out because, honestly, there weren't that many places in Tulsa I felt the need to visit after the sun went down. Much as I might complain about having a curfew, or a 'bedtime' as the gang called it just to bug me, and rolled my eyes at my brothers' over-protectiveness, to tell the truth I didn't really mind that much. My big brothers knew the score and they just wanted to look out for me.

But tonight was different, I reasoned as I landed softly on the grass beside Johnny. Tonight was about conquering fears and proving something to myself, which made it noble and if I'd learnt anything from all the books I've read in my lifetime, it's that a quest with noble intentions has to be completed. I explained all this to Johnny as we hoofed it over to the highway and stuck out our thumbs.

"I dunno, Pone," he mumbled back, keeping his eyes out for cars. "Kind of just seems like breakin' curfew to me."

Luckily it didn't take long for a car to stop for us. I knew Darry and Soda would be glued to the Tv tonight as there was some show on they'd been talking excitedly about since last week, but I couldn't be sure what time it finished so the quicker we made it back the better.

"Where are you kids headed?" A guy with a ponytail asked once he'd rolled down his window and looked us up and down. Hitch-hiking was one of the few things Johnny and I did better at on our own as we looked pretty non-threatening whereas we'd once stood in this same spot with Dal and Steve for well over an hour and I swear cars actually sped up as they passed us. I'd told Steve his face was to blame and he'd knocked me down into the dirt. Not a minute later a soccy women stopped her little red beetle and jumped out of the car, yelling at Steve about hitting me and asking if Johnny and I needed her to get us away from 'these dangerous hoodlums'. I almost said yes just to see the look on Steve's face but Johnny was starting to look freaked out and Dally had quickly grabbed my arm and yanked me down the embankment before the women could cause any more of a scene. We high-tailed it to The Dingo with Dal cussin' up a storm the whole way and never did get wherever we we trying to go. Steve still got mad whenever I reminded him of it which was enough to keep me repeating the story every time I got the chance.

"Sullivan's Pond, please," As was our habit I spoke instead of Johnny and was careful to mind my manners. This guy was kind of scruffy lookin' and his t-shirt was a bunch of crazy bright colours all mixed up together. I was thinking he must be one of those hippies Darry liked to shake his head and tut at whenever they came up on the news. I never really paid much attention but I think they liked peace and cigarettes which didn't sound like a bad thing in my book. "You know where that is?"

"Sure do. Pretty deserted out there this time of night, kids, you wouldn't be headin' out there to cause mischief now would you?"

"No, Sir," both Johnny and I blurted at the same time, then looked at each other guiltily. I was the better lier out of the two of us but even I was struggling to come up with a vaguely innocent reason as to why we were going to the lake at 9 o'clock on a Friday night. With no other options I settled on the truth. "We're goin' swimmin'."

There was a long pause and I thought for sure we were busted but when I finally got the courage to look up and meet the man's gaze, I could see his eyes had a twinkle in them. "Swimmin' huh?" He threw back his head and let out a huge guffawing laugh, making us both jump. "You cats are wild, man! I love it! Get in!"

We climbed in the back, exchanging a quick glance as we shuffled over the seats. His car was kind of dirty with random clothes and shoes strewn around amongst lots of fast-food wrappers. It smelt weird too, not bad exactly, just kind of sweet with something tangy underneath it. The Byrds were playing on the radio and there were a bunch of charms dangling from the rear-view mirror. One looked like it was an elephant but it was coloured bright blue.

"You from around here, mister?" Johnny asked and I turned to look at him in surprise as he wasn't real fond of talking to strangers. I guess I must've been too engrossed in looking at the car to take up for him.

"Yeah but I ain't been back in a long time. I live out west now, you boys heard of San Francisco?" We nodded but I knew for both of us, he might as well have been talking about Greenland for all we really knew about it.

"I seen it on the news once," Johnny said quietly.

"You like it out there, mister? It's by the ocean, huh?" I'd always been strangely fascinated by the idea of the ocean, spending long car rides just starting out the window imaging what it would be like if salt water replaced Oklahoma's endless fields of wheat, stretching as far as the eye could see. It was terrifying but also thrilling to imagine.

"Kids, I'm gonna tell you something right now and you gotta promise me you won't ever forget it. San Francisco is the still point of turning world. Whatever comes next, it will have started in San Francisco. There's things happening there, the things people are taking about - I mean you can't even imagine. It's…" he shook his head, like he could hardly find the words to describe it. "It's like everything that matters here isn't important there. People are just people and they want everyone else to just be people too. Everyone should be free." I must've made some kind of sound because his eyes met mine in the rear-view mirror. "And yeh kid, it's by the ocean."

"Woah," I heard Johnny breath beside me.

"It sounds like magic," I said without even thinking about it and the guy's eyes crinkled as he smiled. We pulled up at the turn off for Sullivan's Pond ten minutes later having been silent for the rest of the ride. I guess we were all thinking about San Francisco. It was rare to meet someone who had actually left Tulsa. Everyone talked about 'getting out' but no one seemed to specify where they'd go or what they'd do outside the city limits. Even when Darry was set for college, he was only going to the University of Oklahoma and he was the most ambitious person I knew.

Once we'd clambered out and slammed the backdoor, the guy leaned out of his open window to tell us goodbye. "You kids take care, now. Enjoy your swim and remember San Francisco's where it's at! Stay groovy, cats!"

And with that he was gone, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust to show he'd ever been there at all.

"Where what's at?" Johnny eventually asked after a long moment. I shrugged.

"Everything I guess. Gee, you think we'll ever make it to San Francisco to see the ocean, Johnny? I dunno about all that other stuff but I think that would be pretty neat!"

"I dunno, Ponyboy. San Francisco's pretty far and sounds a little nutty to me but it would be cool to visit somewhere other than Tulsa. Hey, maybe Dal can take us to Texas if he wins big at the rodeo sometime. He told me if you're good enough you can make crazy money down there!" I grinned, pleased that my friend had dreams of his own to get exited about. I'd figured out a long time ago that Johnny and I were on different paths in life and that was ok, I was just glad we'd bumped into each other along the way. Of course Johnny couldn't imagine a future without Dally in it and the idea of Dallas Winston hangin' loose in San Francisco with all the hippies was just about the funniest thing on earth.

"That would be a blast!" I agreed enthusiastically, although privately I thought life on the rodeo-circuit was a pretty rough gig and I wasn't one hundred percent sure I was built for hard livin'. But I'd go if it would make Johnny happy. "And I bet we could get Soda to come with us, he's crazy about horses!"

Johnny nodded, understanding that Sodapop was just as non-negotiable in my future as Dally was in his. "But hey, you know if Soda comes then Steve and Two-Bit are gonna tag along too, right?" He elbowed me softly as we began to walk down the dirt track towards the lake. I made a face and he laughed softly.

"I guess Two-Bit would be ok, at least for a little while. But Steve…"

"He ain't so bad, Pone. He just makes fun because you're like his little brother!" I rolled my eyes, having heard this argument many times before.

"That ain't even half true because I got two real brothers and he's worse to me than either of them! He just likes gettin' me in trouble is all!" Now it was Johnny's turn to roll his eyes.

"I dunno, Pony, sometimes you manage that all on your own!" He opened his arms wide and gestured to the pitch-black that surrounded us, cocking an eyebrow.

"Except this time I'm not all on my own because I got my old pal Johnnycakes with me!" I cried happily, throwing my arm around his shoulders and nearly knocking us both off the path in the process. He shoved back and we kept it up until suddenly we were at the lake.

"Gee…" Johnny breathed, all of our previous joking around forgotten. "It sure does look different at night. You can't hardly see the other side."

"Yeah," I muttered, pretty surprised myself. I'd been to this lake more times than I can say but I swear it seemed to have doubled in size. "Good job I ain't plannin' on swimmin' across it I guess."

"You sure you wanna do this, Ponyboy? Maybe tonight could just be like the fact-findin' mission so when we come back next time you know what to expect?" I couldn't help but notice the slightly hopeful tone to his questions.

"Nah, who knows when I'll be able to sneak out next and it's gettin' near the end of summer. It has to be tonight." Johnny's the best best friend so he nodded.

"Okay, tonight it is. How do you wanna do this? Should I climb up with you? Or keep look out from down here?"

"You stay here, I need to do it by myself. But when you see me on the edge, if it looks like I'm not gonna do it, can you shout for me? Just be like 'Hey Pone, it ain't even that high!' or something? I think that might help."

"Sure," Johnny agreed. "I'll stand right at the bottom as you climb up so I can shine the flashlight for you then once you've made it I'll come back here and watch for you on the edge."

"Oh yeah, good idea!" I'd forgotten all about the flashlight. "Ok, I think we should go right away. The longer we're out here the higher the chances of Darry figuring out I'm not in bed with a stomach ache."

Plus I was getting more anxious by the second. There was a gentle breeze blowing and I could hear the water lapping against the banks. Any other time it would've been peaceful but I was quickly remembering that being out in the dark of the country was way creepier than the Tulsa dark I was used to.

I hastily heeled off my sneakers and made quick work of wriggling out of my jean shorts - they used to be Soda's and were still big on me so I didn't even need to undo them. Placing them in a pile by the water's edge, close to where I figured Johnny would stand to watch me, I was careful not to let my eyes drift upwards.

"Ready?" Johnny asked, tapping the flashlight nervously against his leg.

"Ready," I confirmed and together we made the short walk over to the High Rock.


	2. Chapter 2

I've known about the High Rock for as long as I can remember, but I guess I didn't really start paying attention to it until this summer. I knew kids jumped form it; both my brothers had although I hadn't been around to witness it and Two-Bit's iconic High Rock belly-flop was the stuff of legends. So I just assumed one day I'd do it too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it wasn't a big deal until it was. And that is one hundred percent the fault of Sodapop Curtis.

It had reached that point in the summer where you can't remember a time before the endless days of scorching heat and can't imagine a time after. You've done all the cool stuff you couldn't wait to do when school let out and the boredom has set in but it's too damn hot to do anything about it. I guess if we were rich, it would be the time we'd go away on vacation. But we're not, so instead we went to Sullivan's Pond with all the other East-side hoodlums.

Darry was at work and Dallas had an aversion to water that no-one was stupid enough to draw attention to, but other than that the gang was all there. Johnny's old man had been on a tear the night before, so he was taking it easy and resting on the old picnic blanket Steve kept in the truck of his car. He'd kept his shirt on even though it was, as Two-Bit said, hotter than Hell and half of Georgia so I knew better than to ask him to join me in the water. Which is how I ended up hanging out with Curly Shepard and some other guys I knew from the neighbourhood.

I wish I could say the whole thing was Curly's idea, but honestly, it was me that bought up the High Rock. Although in my defence, I would never even have thought of it if Soda hadn't pulled me aside when we arrived and told me I wasn't old enough to jump yet, so I better not go getting any ideas. At first I'd thought he was joking because out of my two brothers, Soda was usually the more relaxed. He's always said if I'm gonna do stupid shit, he'd rather I did it with him around so he can be there to help me out whereas Darry's the one who's all 'just don't do stupid shit in the first place, Ponyboy!"

But that day Soda had put on his serious face and he wasn't asking, he was telling. That annoyed me right from the off because I like to think that Soda and I are buddies and it makes me feel like I'm just his tag-along kid brother when he starts bossing me. Then when I asked why, he wouldn't even tell me the real reason. We both knew there wasn't really an 'old enough', kids just jumped whenever they felt like as long as they could swim good enough to get back to shore again. But anyway, he wanted me to swear I wouldn't go near High Rock and I eventually agreed even though I thought he was being ridiculous and completely over-reacting. I tried to bitch about it to Johnny but Steve overheard and told me to stop being a brat which is about the time I lit off to find Curly.

"Jesus, Ponyboy, you wanna go so bad let's go!" Curly grouched after hearing me out, already starting to doggy paddle in that direction. Jumping hadn't really been what I'd been getting at, I kind of just wanted him to agree that big brothers could be a huge pain in the butt sometimes, but as soon as he suggested it, it made perfect sense. Sure, Soda would probably be a little mad, but once he'd seen me do it he'd realise how dumb it was to get all bent out of shape in the first place. The tricky bit was figuring out how to make the climb up to the edge without him seeing me.

Following behind Curly at a safe enough distance (Curly swam exactly as he lived, like he was about to drown any second and it was only sheer force of will and a refusal to do what people expected that kept afloat, which resulted in him flailing through the water like a complete maniac and woe betide anyone who got too close) I scanned the shoreline for my brother. I could see Johnny and Two-Bit still sitting on our blanket and after a minute caught sight of Steve chatting with a couple of guys I vaguely recognised. As we came up to the shore I finally spotted Soda sitting with a group of girls at the edge of the tree line, head thrown back in laughter. I never understood why girls even bothered coming to the lake, they hardly ever went in the water and if they did, they just stood in the shallows and shrieked whenever they got splashed. But today I was glad because I knew if there was one thing guaranteed to keep my brother's attention off of me, it was a pretty girl.

As we clambered out of the water I looked around and realised there was actually a whole pack of boys who were heading up to jump and suddenly this really stared to feel like fun. It's kind of rare for me to feel like 'one of the guys'. Obviously the gang includes me in most of their activities but I still often wind up feeling like a kid when I'm with them. Not always in a bad way, but sometimes Two-Bit will throw his arm across my chest when we're waiting to cross the street like he thinks I'm gonna step out in front of a car or something or Soda will order for me at The Dingo without even giving me the chance to do it myself. And don't even get me started on Darry! I don't think they even realise they're doing it but it does always remind me that, even though I'm there hanging out with them, I'm not quite one of them. So to be scrambling up the High Rock with a bunch of kids just like me felt really cool. Not to mention it would make it that much harder for Soda to spot me if he did happen to look up.

It felt like an easy climb up but once we reached the top, I realised the High Rock felt a whole lot higher when you were up there than it looked from the ground. I'd never had a problem with heights, but then again I'd never really been up that high before. The highest was probably when Soda convinced six-year-old me to get up on the roof with him so we could learn how to fly but our Dad had found out and grabbed us down quick smart so all I can really remember about it was my Dad's strong arms holding me. I'd estimate High Rock is about thirty feet but let me tell you, when you're up there shivering from a breeze that didn't exist down below, it feels more like a hundred. I was nervous, obviously, but it was also exciting. I felt kind of how I feel right before a rumble or when we're playing Tickle War and my brothers have me cornered; Darry calls it adrenaline. The rest of the guys were feeling it too, I could tell.

Without anyone telling us to we'd spread out into a somewhat orderly line which was no mean feat for a bunch of boys from East-side Tulsa. I'd wound up somewhere in the middle which meant I got to watch a few guys jump as the line slowly inched forward. There was the usual heckling and trash talk going on, I could hear Curly declaring loudly that he was going to dive off head first. A guy named Bobby Kairns was stood behind me, hovering so close to my shoulder I could practically feel him vibrating with anticipation. I turned to grin at him and he punched me softly in the chest, repeating over and over "this is gonna be so cool, Ponyboy. This is gonna be so cool!" I agreed with him wholeheartedly and was about to say exactly that when from out of nowhere I felt a harsh tug on my left arm, hard enough that it pulled me right out the line.

"Hey!" I yelped, stumbling sideways as Bobby, Curly and what felt like every other kid from East Tulsa stared on in shocked silence.

"What the heck do you think your doing?!" I would recognise my brother's voice anywhere but he sounded so uncharacteristically furious I had to twist around to double check. But sure enough I found myself starting up at Sodapop, his angry face all but blocking out the sun.

"What?" I stammered, struggling to get a grasp on what was happening. How was he here? Where had he come from so suddenly? "Nothing! I'm just…I was just…what are you doing here?!"

"What am I doing here?!" Soda roared, giving me a shake for good measure. "What are you doing here, Ponyboy?! After I specifically told you not to jump! You're coming with me right now, what were you thinking?!"

He began pulling at me again, dragging me away from the edge and back towards the path. I dug my heels in out of instinct more than anything else, still not really believing this was happening. How could my cool, fun, chilled-out older brother be embarrassing me like this?

"No, wait, it's nearly my turn, Soda!" I don't know why I bothered to say it as it was clear the line had already moved on, whatever spectacle Soda and I were making not enough to stop the kids who didn't have a deranged older brother gripping their arm from making the jump. As soon as the words left my mouth I knew it was the wrong thing to say. Soda stopped short, yanking me so hard I barrelled straight into him, then held me there, pressed right up against his body.

"I swear to God, Ponyboy, if you don't stop all this nonsense and come with me right now I'm gonna pull down your pants and humble you in front of all your little friends. Is that what you want?" Luckily he'd been hissing directly into my ear so I'm pretty sure I was the only one who heard his threat but I quickly shook my head anyway, suitably appalled by the prospect. "Right then, get moving!"

Soda took a hold of my shoulders, guiding me back down the High Rock. I let him, unsure whether I wanted to kick him in the shins or burst into tears. I could feel my face heating up in embarrassment and stupid Curly Shepard hollering "better luck next time, Pony!" didn't help anything.

"Go suck a dick, Curly!" Sodapop yelled back, which was perhaps the only silver lining to this garbage dump of a situation as everyone erupted into laughter and I figured at least now they'd be making fun of Curly instead of me. But still, skidding and sliding back down that rock with my brother at my heels was probably one of the most humiliating moments of my life to date. He grabbed hold of me again as soon as we were back on level ground and pulled me over to our blanket. "Sit your butt down there and let me think for a minute. Jesus, Ponyboy, I can't believe you!"

I scowled but did as I was told, plopping down between Two-Bit and Johnny. Soda remained standing with his hands on his hips, still looking pissed but less so now we were off the rock. After a minute Johnny sat up and placed his hand sympathetically on my shoulder, so I knew they'd seen the whole thing.

"Tough break, Ponykid," Two-Bit commiserated but then ruined it by adding, "glory, but your ears can get red!" I shoved him hard enough that his beer sloshed everywhere, which I have to admit made me feel a bit better, but I was still really mad. Yeah ok, I'd disobeyed Soda but he wasn't Darry and I didn't need him to start acting like it either! One brother with quick hands was more than enough for me, thank you very much! Plus he'd embarrassed me, something I never thought I'd have to worry about with him. If he hadn't been so bossy in the first place, none of this would have even happened!

I'd been glaring at the water for a good ten minutes, stewing over how unfair my life was when Steve decided to stick his ugly great nose in. A wad of pondweed hit me on the chest and I looked up to see him looming over me, which didn't improve my mood one little bit I can tell you.

"You can wipe that look off your face, kid. You messed up, you got busted and your brother took you to task, man up and get over it! I don't wanna spend the whole day watching you pout like a six year old!"

I was about to snap something back at him but Sodapop beat me to it. "Steve's right, Pony, that's enough now. You know what you did was wrong so either buck up or you can go sit in the car by yourself until it's time to go home!" For the second time that day I turned to stare at my brother in disbelief. I swear if I hadn't woken up next to him that morning I would've sworn he'd been body-snatched in the night. He raised his eyebrows at me, clearly not playing. "Well? What's it gonna be?"

I stared him down for a minute longer, just in case he was going to break out into a grin and declare everything that had happened since we arrived was nothing but a big joke, before finally giving up and mumbling, "I wanna stay here."

"That's what I thought. I don't want any more shenanigans out of you or you know what'll happen. You're not gonna spoil this day for everyone just because you can't do as your told. Hey!" I'd started to turn away from him, already done with his lecturing but his shout had me snapping my head back around to face him quick smart. He reached forward and took a hold of my chin, frowning down at me. "I'm serious, Pone, you stop this right now. If I have to get at you one more time today you'll find yourself sitting in Steve's car with a sore backside quicker than you can blink. And if I catch you within five feet of that damn rock so help me god I'll tan your behind six shades of red! It's enough now."

He sounded so much like Darry it was almost scary and I found myself nodding without even realising it. After a long second he finally let me go and I quickly readjusted my posture so it wouldn't look like I was still sulking. I think the gang were a bit shocked as well, even Steve didn't look so smug any more.

"You wanna go for a swim, Pone?" Johnny asked me softly after a minute, breaking the tense silence that had descended. I turned to look at him, surprised at his suggestion. Even with his shirt on I could see angry looking bruises peeking out from his neckline.

"You sure?" I whispered back and he nodded, clambering to his feet and stretching.

"Yeah, I'm fryin' like an egg just layin' around. Come on, let's go." He reached down and pulled me to my feet then suddenly seemed to remember my brother. "It's ok, right Soda?"

I turned to look at Sodapop uncertainly, not so sure where we stood after this morning's events. The very fact that Johnny felt the need to ask permission was proof of just how upsidedown everything had gotten.

"Yeah that's fine, thanks Johnny." My brother responded eventually, smiling at him before fixing me with a look that could've frozen water. "Just no rock."

"Yessir!" I sassed, then quickly dove into the water before he could come for me.

Somewhat surprisingly the rest of the day was actually quite pleasant. Although Johnny knew how to swim he didn't like not being able to touch the bottom, so we messed about in the shallows until it was time for lunch. I was even able to 'accidently' send a cascade of water splashing over Steve, which really cheered me up. Darry had packed sandwiches for everyone and Two-Bit had remembered to bring the leftovers from his sister's birthday cake so it was a very satisfying meal. I kept a wary distance from Soda, still cross with him but not stupid enough to be anything but civil and polite. I didn't even complain when he insisted I eat two sandwiches before I could have any cake.

Lunch seemed to tire everyone out and I fell asleep next to Johnny not long after we'd cleared everything away, only waking up when Two-Bit poked me in the ribs, demanding that I join him in the water. He must've felt sorry for me because he let me up on his shoulders which he hardly ever did anymore because he said I was getting too big. Eventually another older guy got involved and hauled Richard Schmarsky up onto his own shoulders so me and him could wrestle. It was great fun, even if Two-Bit did purposefully make me lose sometimes by tickling my feet.

By the time the sun was starting to go down I was feeling a whole mite better. I knew I'd probably endure some teasing about what had happened with Soda on the rock but no one had said anything to me that afternoon so I figured my reputation wasn't completely ruined. Soda and I didn't say anything to each other on the drive home which made me feel uneasy as I was now remembering that I had another big brother at home who also didn't take kindly to me not doing as I'd been told. I kind of wanted to ask Soda if he was going to say anything to Darry, but my pride wouldn't let me.

In the end he didn't even have to bring it up, almost as soon as we'd walked through the door Darry was asking what had happened. I guess he could tell by our demeanour that something was amiss. Of course Soda told him (which I couldn't begrudge him because lying to Darry's face was just not something you did) and Darry walloped me three times for disobeying then sent me to bed without supper.

"When I'm not there, Soda's in charge and you know it! If I can't trust you to behave for Soda then you'll just have to start coming to work with me and sitting in the truck all day! I mean it, Ponyboy, I won't have you taking advantage just because Sodapop doesn't like seeing you cry!" I could still hear his words ringing in my ears as I lay in bed. To be fair he wasn't entirely wrong, I did push things more with Soda than Darry but that hadn't seemed to be a problem until today. I knew Soda wasn't getting off scott free either as I could hear Darry ranting as he banged pots around in the kitchen. "You can't let him get away with that kind of stuff, Pepsi! I've told you over and over, give him an inch and he'll take a mile! You should've dealt with it straight away then perhaps he wouldn't have been such a little shit about it. He needs to know that if he breaks the rules he faces the consequences and that those consequences are exactly the same regardless of who's dishing them out!"

"Geez Dar, what did you want me to do? Blister his butt on top of the High Rock with half of Tulsa looking on? There was hardly room to move up there with all the kids milling about, let alone space to get him over my knee!" Soda was sounding annoyed now too and I was starting to feel bad that I'd put him in such an awkward position.

"No don't be ridiculous! But I would've taken him straight back to the car and given him what for then bought him right back here, not let him mess about with Two-Bit and eat birthday cake! What lesson does that teach him?!"

"It was fine Dar, I handled it and he didn't try and jump again ok?"

"Oh yeah, everything's fine, Soda! That's why you two have hardly said two words to each other since you've gotten back and you could've cut the tension with a knife! And he didn't try this time but he's getting older, Sodapop, it's time you -" I shoved my pillow over my head, not wanting to hear anymore. I really hated it when my brothers argued, even more so when it was my fault.

I guess I must've dozed off because when I next opened my eyes the room was dark and Sodapop was shaking me.

"Wha?" I mumbled, my voice scratchy from sleep. Soda grinned his movie-star smile at me and held up a plate with some french fries on it.

"Don't tell Darry," he warned as he balanced the plate on my lap then stole a fry. "I snuck out to The Dingo and got you these, figured it was the least I could do."

The fries smelt amazing and I suddenly remembered how hungry I was. Soda smirked as he watched me inhale them, bring a hand up to ruffle my hair affectionately.

"Alright, Pone, take it easy! Don't forget to breath a little in between mouthfuls!" He teased and I grinned at him after I'd swallowed. "I'm sorry I had to tell Darry, kiddo. And I'm sorry about today, I hate when I have to get at you like that. I just got…I dunno…I just got nervous I guess. It might not look like it but it's a long way down from High Rock and you could've slipped or cracked your head against the side or anything!"

I nodded, tipping the plate in his direction so he'd know I didn't mind sharing. "I know, I'm sorry too. But everyone does it, Soda, you really don't have to worry about me!"

"I don't care about everybody else but I'm always gonna worry about you, Pone. I know it's hard sometimes but Darry and I are just trying to take care of you. Trust me, you'll understand when you're older." I only managed not to roll my eyes as I felt like we were on the brink of making up. 'You'll understand when you're older' had to be the biggest parental cop out in the book. I didn't want to understand when I'm older, I wanted to know now! But then again Soda had bought me fries and said sorry for telling on me to Darry…

"Thanks for not spanking me on the High Rock," I said sheepishly, grinning as I felt my face start to heat up at the very suggestion. Sodapop let out a genuine laugh and pulled me into a tight hug, tipping fries all over the bed covers in the process.

"You got it, Little Brother. Just don't pull that shit with Darry, ok? He's way less cool than I am!"

"Got it!" I mumbled into him, happy we weren't going to bed mad. "Friends?"

"Friends," Soda agreed, planting a sloppy kiss of my forehead that immediately had me squirming away from him.

"Yuck!" I griped, wiping at myself as Soda chuckled away and nonchalantly began picking fries off the sheets.

"Yuck yourself! Make sure you get a shower tomorrow, Pone, I think you bought half of Sullivan's pondlife back in your hair!" I threw a fry at him and then he threw one back and I knew everything was ok again.

Later, after all traces of fries had been removed from our bed, I lay next to Soda and listened as he slept. Even though we were back on good terms, something about the day's events still didn't sit right with me. As I went back over it all in my head, I finally realised what it was. I wanted to jump off the High Rock. Like really wanted to. To come so close today, to feel the breeze in my hair and the butterflies in my stomach, then not be able to see it through - that just wasn't right. I knew what I had to do and, even as I snuggled closer to my brother, a plan was already forming in my head. Darry and Soda must never find out, but I had to find a way to get back to the High Rock.


	3. Chapter 3

It took me a while to find my way in the dark, the beam from Johnny's flashlight only reaching so far. I'd decided to leave my shirt on as there was a slight nip in the air and it kept catching on things as I scrambled, the trail hemmed by scrubby little bushes I hadn't noticed last time I'd made the climb. But I could feel the excitement building in my belly as I got closer to the summit so I powered on. Once I got to the top, I didn't waste any time in jogging over to the edge. This was what I'd missed out on last time and I was desperate to see how it felt to look out over everything from above.

It really was something. As a kid who's never taller than anyone, to suddenly find myself able to look down and see the tops of trees swaying below me was mind-bending. It actually took my breath away and I stood there for a good few minutes just drinking it all in. The silence was incredible. I was so lost in it all I had almost forgotten the reason I was up there in the first place, but as a particularly strong gust of wind nudged me even closer to the edge I suddenly remembered the jump.

For the first time I looked down. The water below was so black it looked like gasoline. A sliver of moon lit up a small section but mostly the lake was completely dark. It would be like jumping into outer space. When I looked to the right I could see the pale circle of Johnny's flashlight so I called his name, waving even though I wasn't sure he could see me. It must've made him jump as the light jerked at my shout and I chuckled despite myself.

"Hey Pone!" He hollered back, aiming the flashlight in my direction even though the beam was too weak to make much difference. "How is it up there?!"

"High!" I yelled, imagining his subsequent eye-roll. "But I like it! You can see for miles - even Tulsa looks pretty from far away!"

"Only from far away!" I blame the fact that we were both laughing so much that we didn't notice the approaching car until it's headlights lit up the water like two giant searchlights. And by then it was too late to do anything. I was about 90% sure it wouldn't be socs as Sullivan's Pond was well-known as a Greaser hangout where any self-respecting social wouldn't be caught dead. It could potentially be farm kids, they sometimes got possessive when too many city kids started clogging up their swimming holes or maybe a local had seen us get dropped off and wanted us to scram. I had no idea who officially owned Sullivan's Pond, although I guess he would be called Sullivan. It's fair to say the very, very last person I ever expected to step out of the car and into the light was Dallas Winston.

"Dal?" I heard Johnny say dumbly, even though there's noone within a hundred miles of here who looks even remotely like Dally so of course it was him.

"Hey Johnnycakes," Dally replied easily, seeming strangely relaxed for a New York hood surrounded by nature. "What're you doin' hangin' around out here?"

Now my pal Johnny is great at a whole lotta things, but flat-out lying to Dallas Winston is not one of them. I heard him stutter for a few seconds, then watched, frozen in horror, as he turned to look over his shoulder and directly at me. Dally followed his gaze a split-second later and the speed in which his face changed expressions would have been funny if I hadn't been so shit-scared. Boy was I busted.

"Jesus Christ, Ponyboy! Get your ass down here right now! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Dally's yell was loud enough to startle the birds from the trees and I gulped. While it wasn't unusual for Dal's tone towards me to be harsh, I annoyed him no end with my tendency to daydream and accidentally wander into trouble, this was a whole other level.

"Hey Dal!" I called back without thinking and almost immediately regretted it. As Darry is always saying, sometimes I really don't use my head.

"I swear to god, kid, if I have to come up there and get you I'm gonna kick your ass so hard your teeth'll shatter! Get the hell down from there right this goddamn second!" I saw Johnny cringe next to him and figured I'd better do what he said asap. I bent my knees, readying myself to make the jump. "NO! Don't jump, you stupid idiot! Jesus fucking Christ, you're dumber than a bag of rocks. Just wait 'til I get my hands on you, you little shit! Don't you dare freakin' jump!"

I'd frozen in place at Dally's bellow, unsure what I'd managed to do wrong now. He wanted me to come down right away and jumping was the fastest way to do that, but now he didn't want me to jump? I hovered on the edge, swaying slightly in the breeze. Silhouetted by the car's headlights I watched Daly stalk back and forth like a caged animal. Coming down from the High Rock suddenly didn't seem too hot of an idea. Dally could be awful scary when he was mad. Johnny must've read my mind because he cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered up to me.

"You gotta come back down the path, Ponyboy! It's ok, don't be scared!" I gulped and nodded my head, understanding now. It was a problem I sometimes had when Darry was yelling too, it was like my brain froze up with panic and I couldn't think quick enough to follow direct instructions. Darry knew about it but still sometimes wound up losing his temper with me even more when I couldn't jump to do exactly what he wanted and I guess Dally was the same.

I slowly began to back away from the edge, small rocks and dirt tumbling over as I shuffled backwards. Shit, how could this be happening again? All I wanted to do was jump off this stupid rock like every other greaser kid in Tulsa, yet here I was once again being ordered back down with my tail between my legs. The further I got from the edge, the more my fear began to be replaced by anger. Dally wasn't one of my brothers, why should he get to tell me what to do? Besides what was he gonna do? He wasn't physically up here with me like Sodapop had been, he couldn't force me to turn back.

By now I was far enough away that I could no longer see Johnny and Dally, which meant they could also no longer see me. I could still hear Dally cursing up a storm and figured he'd still be pacing angrily. If I timed it right, he might not even see me jump. All he'd catch was the splash and by then it'd be too late. I bit my lip, thinking things over for a quick second. I knew I was asking for it, not only with my brothers but probably Dally as well. And he had no qualms about hurting me like Darry and Soda had. But then I was already in trouble as there was no way Dally was going to let me off the hook and not tell on me. Surly it's better to get in trouble for something I actually did than something I almost did? Besides the idea of coming so close for a second time and still not making the jump seemed almost unbearable. I'd be lucky if Darry let me out the house for the rest of the summer after he found out about tonight, so really it was now or never. Taking a deep breath in I turned back towards the lake and started to run.

One minute my feet were on solid ground, the next my stomach was rushing up into my mouth as I plummeted through the air. I think I yelled but it all happened so fast, I'm can't be certain. I do remember tucking my legs up and wrapping my arms around them out of pure instinct, so I wound up dive-bombing into the lake and making a gigantic splash. If this had been a normal day all the kids would've cheered because the water splashed right up onto the bank but as I surfaced, shocked from the sudden cold but grinning like a fool, all I got was Dallas screaming all the different ways he was going to kill me. Biting my lip to keep from laughing out loud (that adrenaline sure does make you wacky) I began the short swim back to land where, if Dally was telling the truth, I was about to meet my maker.

Before I'd even reached the side Dally had a hold on the back of my t-shirt and was hauling me out of the water. I came up dripping and spluttering, not expecting to be dragged in like a fish caught on a line. It would've been easier and a hell of a lot more dignified to pull myself out but one look at Dallas' face stopped me from voicing that opinion. Johnny was stood off to his left, gaping at me like I'd suddenly grown an extra head. Honestly, I couldn't quite believe I'd done it either.

I had about two seconds of feeling prideful before Dally's forearm collided with the side of my head, the momentum knocking me to the ground. I landed heavily on my side in the dirt, yelping then groaning as the pain registered properly.

"Ouch, Dal!" I grouched, bringing my hand up to my head. Truth be told I was more indignant than surprised, Dally didn't hold back when he was pissed.

"Shut the fuck up, Ponyboy! What the hell were you thinking?! Stand up and look at me when I'm yellin' at you!" Johnny was at my side moments later, helping me to my feet and holding me steady. I was mighty glad because my right ear was still ringing something awful. Dallas looked like he was about to spit nails but I knew he wasn't likely to whack me again with Johnny standing right there. "I swear to god you must be the dumbest kid to ever walk the earth! You don't jump offa somethin' when you can't see the bottom, dipshit! You coulda been smashed to pieces on some rocks or god knows what!"

Johnny and I exchanged a quick glance. There weren't any rocks at Sullivan's Pond apart from High Rock, everyone knew that. Luckily Johnny figured it out before I did because talking was probably the last thing I needed to be doing right now.

"He knew there weren't no rocks, Dal. We've been here before, loads of times. This is where we come every time we say we're going swimming." Johnny's voice was calm and steady and I was so so grateful. "Ponyboy knew he was just gonna hit the water."

Dally looked back and forth between us as he processed this information. "You guys have been here before?" He asked and we both nodded. "This is the lake y'all are always yappin' about? Here? Sullivan's Pond?" Again we nodded.

"I wouldn't have jumped if I didn't know what was at the bottom, Dally, I swear it!" I blurted out, forgetting my earlier plan to keep my mouth shut. Dallas regarded me coolly, pulling a cigarette out from behind his ear and propping it in his mouth but making no move to light it. He looked like he was about to speak when the sound of a car door slamming had us all turning to stare.

"Christ, Winston, what's takin' so long? I didn't rip a hole in my pantyhose and risk a beat-down from my old man just to watch you holler at some kids! Let's go already!" Even though I couldn't see her against the headlights, I would recognise Sylvia's voice anywhere. Just when I thought this situation couldn't get any worse…

"Sylvie I told you to stay in the car!" Dally snapped, looking as close to flustered as it's possible for Dallas Winston to get.

"Yeah yeah, keep ya shirt on, handsome. Now who do we have here? Why if it isn't little Johnny Cade!" Next to me Johnny gulped audible. "And I'd recognise those good genes anywhere! You're one of the Curtis brothers, ain't ya cutie?"

"Heya, Sylvia," I mumbled, very aware that I was standing in front of her shivering in my underwear. I looked up in time to see her smirk.

"Gee, of all the Curtis boys to catch in their skivvies, just my luck to wind up with the kid," she pouted, reaching over and plucking the cigarette from Dally's mouth all the while keeping her eyes trained on me. I'm not sure whether it was Johnny who moved in front of me or I shuffled behind him, but either way he manages to block me slightly from her view.

"Alright Sylvie, cool your jets. Don't give the kid a complex." Sylvia rolls her eyes but lets Dal light the cigarette, blowing a long breath of smoke into the air.

"Let's get out of here, Winston. I ain't gettin' paid to babysit and you told me we was gonna have fun! No kids allowed kinda fun!" She flicks her ashes in our direction before stalking back to the car. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding and Johnny and I watched silently as Dally watched her walk away. I'd never really understood the attraction between Dal and Sylvia, they seemed to hate each other as much as love each other. I said as much to Two-Bit one and he'd told me I'd get it once I got older. After a long moment Dally snapped his fingers and pointed to a spot directly in front of him. I gulped, instantly recognising the gesture as one favoured by both my brothers. It never ended well for me.

"Get over here now," he demanded when I didn't move right away.

"You're gonna hit me again!" I whined, careful not to use the word no specifically but really not wanting to move away from Johnny. Dallas' nostrils flared which was never a good sign and he darted forward quick as a snake, grabbing my arm and yanking me across the small distance between us. Dally's skinny but he's strong, I didn't even have time to dig my heels in before I was where he wanted me. He made a movement and I flinched despite myself, but he was just taking off his jacket.

"Put this on before you freeze to death," he snapped, draping it around my shoulders. I just had time to slip my arms into the sleeves before he was shoving me forwards in the direction of his car. "Come on, I'm takin' you home. Sylvia's pissed so that's my night fucking ruined, I'd kick your ass myself if I didn't know your big brother was gonna do it for me. Come on, Johnny, we're leaving!"

Johnny had the sense to grab my shorts and sneakers before jogging after us.


	4. Chapter 4

The car ride back to Tulsa was exactly as awkward as you would expect. Once Sylvia realised Dally was driving us home rather than ditching us on the highway to hitch she screamed at him non-stop for ten minutes straight. I slunk down in my seat, copiously avoiding the daggers Dal was shooting my way in the rear-view mirror, but I couldn't stop my ears turning red. I'd never heard a girl curse as good as Sylvia before.

Eventually Dally slammed his hand into the steering wheel hard enough to shut her up but not a minute later she was reapplying her lipstick in the visor mirror and demanding to be dropped off at Skinny Jim's. Now I'm just a kid, but I even I know Skinny Jim's is a bad scene. Based on what I'd heard from Two-Bit (who occasionally ended up there on a particularly heavy night) it catered mostly to long-haul truckers stopping in off the highway and attracted an even rougher crowd than Buck Merrill's which, believe me, was really saying something.

At first Dally refused but I think he could sense Sylvia turning from mad into nasty so cut across two lanes of traffic to screech into the parking lot. Sylvie didn't even let him turn off the engine before opening her door. She slammed it hard enough to make the car shake and flipped us all the bird through the window for good measure. We watched as she strutted across the dirt parking lot like she was on her own personal catwalk, a trail of lowlifes already hitching up their jeans and making to follow her inside. Dally was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white and Johnny cut his eyes at me in a silent warning to keep my mouth shut. He didn't need to tell me twice, I was feeling so hopped up from everything that had happened I didn't whether I wanted to laugh or throw up.

"You better stay outta my way for the next few days, kid." Dallas growled after what felt like an eternity of tense silence. He caught my eye in that damn rearview and I couldn't look away. "Cause I'll be 'bout ready to wring your scrawny little neck and I sure as hell ain't lookin' to fry."

He said this without an ounce of emotion in his voice which somehow made it scarier, like when Darry's voice gets deathly quiet right before he really goes off on one. I gulped, squirming under his death-stare like a rabbit caught in a trap. Finally his eyes slid over to Johnny and I let out a shaky breath.

"And I ain't best pleased with you either, Johnny Cade! He might be a complete fucking moron but you got some smarts about you, you gotta tell him no when he wants to do stupid shit!"

"Sorry, Dal," Johnny mumbled into his chest and I think I felt worse about that than anything else that had happened this evening.

"Yeah, well," Dally grumbled, angrily shoving the car into gear and peeling out of the parking lot. I know the fact that he didn't invite him up to ride shotgun hurt Johnny more than any beat down Dal could dish out and I felt just awful for him. We drove the rest of the way home in silence.

I think I must've dozed off for a little while because next thing I know we're pulling into our driveway and Johnny is shaking my knee. I was annoyed at myself but not surprised, my body often used sleep as a way to counteract stressful situations and I think the comedown after the jump, the residual anger from Dal and Sylvia and the looming dread of my brothers waiting at home all just got too much.

"Let's go," Dally barked, jerking open my door and hauling me out before I'd even opened my eyes properly. I guess Johnny must have made a move to slide across the back seat after me. "Not you, you're staying with me," Dal snapped, slamming the door and dragging me up the porch steps by the scruff of my neck.

He yanked the screen open with his free hand then kicked the front door in before shoving me through it. I would've hit the ground face first if he hadn't had such a good hold of me but as it was we both kind of fell into the living room together, followed by a loud crack as the front door slammed into wall. There was already a dent there from how often our door was opened too forcefully, now I wouldn't be surprised if there was an actual hole. I'd been holding onto a vain sliver of hope that maybe it was a lot later than I thought and my brothers would have fallen asleep in front of the television but there was zero chance of that now.

Soda was stood in the middle of the room, his mouth open as he gaped at us. He had a beer in one hand and a bag of potato chips in the other, in fact there were a bunch of chips scattered on the floor around him where I assumed he'd thrown them in shock. Darry had clearly been relaxing in his recliner but snapped upright at mine and Dally's unexpected arrival, just managing to catch his own beer before it fell to the floor.

"Ponyboy?" Soda blurts out, sounding so genuinely confused it makes my heart hurt a little. "What are you…How are you…You're in bed."

Darry's on his feet by now, always quicker to believe when I've messed up than Sodapop. He strides over to us and I try to shrink back, but Dally's holding me too tightly. I'm never really scared of my brother but he sure can be intimidating when he's mad. I'm half prepared for him to make a grab for me right there and then, but instead he stops in front of us and doesn't even look at me which is somehow even worse.

"Where'd you find him?" He asks Dal, his voice tight and furious. I quietly start praying for the ground to swallow me up.

"Sullivan's Pond," Dally responds, giving me a shake as he continues. "The little idiot jumped off a cliff."

There's a beat of silence. I can see a vein standing out on Darry's forehead and his breaths are deliberately slow, like a bull readying to charge. I find Darry a lot harder to get a read on that Sodapop, but even I could tell he was barely holding it together. Just when it looks like he's about to speak, Soda cuts him off.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" My brother explodes and it's so loud in the silent room it makes me jump. He looks around at all of us like he's truly waiting for a punchline. "He's kidding, right? Someone tell me he's kidding!"

"Do I look like I'm fucking kidding?" Dally drawls, which is so much the wrong thing to say I wonder if he's actually trying to get me killed. Soda looks like he can hardly decide whom he'd like to strangle first.

"Alright!" Darry shouts, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. Seeing Soda getting so riled up seems to have put a lid on his own anger for now but I don't trust it one bit. He holds his hand out expectantly and makes a 'gimme' gesture. "Thanks for bringing him back, Winston. I think we got it from here."

Dally sighs and hauls me the short distance over to Darry, who grabs ahold of my upper arm and immediately tugs me into his side. Dal looks kind of pissed he's being so quickly dismissed and I reckon he was kind of hoping he'd get to see Darry humble me as payback for messing up his date with Sylvia.

"You oughta keep him on a shorter leash," he snaps hotly, throwing one last scowl my way before he turns and stalks out, not bothering to shut the front door behind him.

"Always a pleasure, Dallas!" Darry calls after him, never one to give up the last word. He reaches across and pushes the door closed but we still hear Dal yell back, "Talk to me when you learn how to keep your fucking kid under control!"

Darry stays facing the door for a long moment and I really hope he's collecting himself enough that he can separate how pissed he is at Dally from how pissed he is at me. He really hates it when the gang insinuate he's not raising me right or try to stick their noses in to what he considers to be 'family business'. I take the opportunity to sneak a glance at Soda but he's just staring at Darry too, so I guess we're both waiting.

When Darry finally turns back around, his face is all business. He crosses his arms over his chest and just looks at me, like he's taking stock of the situation and deciding how he's going to handle things. I squirm uncomfortably under his piercing gaze, suddenly self-conscious to be standing in the living room in my underwear and Dally's leather jacket. I'm still damp from the lake and not sure if the jitters I'm feeling are from nerves or if I'm actually cold. Probably both.

"You have exactly ten seconds to tell me what they hell you think you were playing at because you better believe I'm about ready to light your ass up, little boy!" While he still wasn't yelling, his voice was definitely getting louder. I gulped, frantically racking my brain for any possible explanation that wouldn't end with me face down over Darry's knee but coming up with nothing.

"I just wanted to jump," I wailed right as Darry let out a frustrated growl and made like he was going to come for me. "It's no fair I don't get to do it when everybody else does!"

"No fair!" Soda yelled from behind me, successfully reminding me that I had two angry brothers to deal with instead of just the one threatening to beat my butt. "I'll show you no fair in a minute you little-"

"Soda!" Darry shouted, cutting him off before he could call me something horrible. "Cool it a minute, would ya?"

"Oh I'm cool alright, Dar, don't you worry about that. But hey, you wanna know something not cool? Our kid brother, sneaking out in the middle of the night to the freaking ass end of nowhere so he can jump off a rock that I specifically told him not to do because it's dangerous and stupid and he just never goddamn listens to me!"

"I do listen to you, Soda!" I cried, upset that Soda would even think something like that. I always went to him for advice or if something was bothering me and he'd find a way to explain things so I understood. I'd been listening to Soda my whole life!

"Ponyboy…" I heard Darry growl in warning at my raised voice but he was drowned out by Soda.

"Clearly you don't Ponyboy, else you wouldn't have jumped off that stupid rock!" Sodapop sounded so genuinely angry with me I felt my eyes start to well up with tears. Darry had evidently been watching us closely as he knew exactly when to swoop in and defuse things before I started crying for real.

"Ok, let's all just calm down for a second! Sodapop, take a breath and get a hold of yourself if you want to stick around, else you'll need to head over to Steve's for the night and leave things to me. Ponyboy, come over here with me." He took a hold of my wrist and tugged me over to the couch, standing me in front of him when he sat down. "Now don't go getting all worked up," he continued firmly. "They'll be plenty of time for tears later and you'll just give yourself a headache."

I nodded, still sniffling a little but making a conscious effort to calm down. I could tell Darry was still mad but at least he was being kind of nice to me.

"Now we're all going to sit down and have a talk like civilised human beings. Pony's going to tell us exactly what happened this evening and no one is going to raise their voice or start yelling, especially you, little boy. I let it slide earlier but I can promise you I won't be so nice if there's a next time!" I bit my lip but nodded. "You plannin' on joining us, Sodapop? Or are you headed out? It's late and he's tired so I wanna get whatever this is dealt with now."

"Yeah, I'm in. I won't yell no more, sorry Dar." My brother came over and sat next to him on the couch. After a second he reached out and started to peel Dally's jacket off me. "I can't take you seriously in that get up, Pone. You look like one of those homeless street kids from the news."

I frowned a little but let him manhandle me. Personally I'd rather have kept the jacket on, not just because it was warm but it came almost down to my knees so offered me a modicum of privacy but I figured that was the least of my concerns right now. Soda threw it over the back of the couch once he was done and then both my brothers were staring at me expectantly.

"Time to start talking, kiddo," Darry prodded, nodding for me to get going, but it was hard to find the words. I guess I was lucky they were even giving me the opportunity to explain myself, I was half expecting to be thrown over Darry's knee as soon as I came in the door. But telling them face to face like this meant I had to see their anger and disappointment up close. Plus I needed to be careful with what I said as I didn't want to overly incriminate myself, but at the same time I knew if they thought I was downplaying things or not taking full responsibility for my actions my butt would pay the price later. I suppose my internal debate must've shown on my face because Soda leaned forward and rubbed my chest a little. He often did that at night when I was finding it hard to fall asleep so I knew he was trying to comfort me.

"Your ass is grass either way, buddy, so you're best off just giving us the truth, ok?" He said this quite calmly but I know Soda better than anyone so could still sense the anger bubbling below the surface. "You're just making things worse for yourself."

I knew he was right and a quick glance at Darry only confirmed it. My big brother hates to be kept waiting even at the best of times and dragging this out was not doing anything to improve his mood. I wasn't able to stop my hands nervously tugging at the hem of my shirt but after another few seconds of expectant silence, I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.


	5. Chapter 5

I tried to keep things as vague as possible, but of course my brothers asked every question I hoped they wouldn't. I clammed up a couple of times, like when Darry asked how long I'd been planning my 'little adventure' and I didn't want to admit that I'd decided to jump the same day I'd gotten in trouble with Soda for trying to do exactly that, but some well placed swats to my hip soon got me talking again. Soda was quiet for the most part, just shaking his head whenever I said something particularly incriminating. I always moan about Darry treating me like a baby but I honestly think it's Soda who is having a harder time with me growing up. The gang joke about me putting him up on a pedestal but he does exactly the same thing to me, neither of us likes having to concede that the other has messed up.

I was finding the whole process pretty overwhelming. I'm not the type of person who likes being the centre of attention and having my brothers questioning me so intently was making me cranky. They already knew what had happened thanks to Dally's earlier performance, having to go into details was just making me feel worse. I could see Darry getting more and more angry with each new piece of information and Sodapop's continuing disappointment was starting to get on my nerves. Really, this whole mess was his fault in the first place!

"I can't believe you went out there on your own, Ponyboy Michael! Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! What if you'd gotten hurt? We would've had no idea how to find you; it doesn't even bare thinking about!" Darry was really hitting his stride now, I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes as Soda nodded along with the guilt-trip.

"But I wasn't on my own, I was with Johnny," I mumbled into my chest. "He was there to help me if something went bad."

"Yeah and a fat lot of good that would do! He can barely swim himself!"

"Johnny can too swim!" I had snapped at Darry without even realising what I was doing, it was like an automatic reflex to defend Johnny if I felt someone was putting him down.

Darry was having none of it and had me grabbed up under my arms with his leg propped up on the edge of the couch before I even had time to blink. Throwing me over his thigh, he tipped me forward far enough that I could reach my arms down and rest them on the cushions like I was doing a handstand, all the while keeping a tight grip on my waist to make sure I didn't fall. As I was already only wearing my underwear and this for sure wasn't going to be my real spanking he didn't bother with his usual pre-punishment routine, just started slapping up and down the back of my legs with quick, stinging smacks that had me hollering and squirming in no time.

Smacked legs wasn't a punishment Darry used that often, probably because it was only really effective if the clothes I was wearing gave him access to my bare skin like my sleepwear or shorts in the summertime. He sometimes used it as a warning if he thought I was getting too cocky for my own good and wanted to nip my behaviour in the bud before he had to pop me for real; but that was most often when we were sat down together at the dinner table or in the truck and was almost always to the front of my thigh which, for some reason I've never been able to figure out, just doesn't hurt as much as getting smacked on the back of the leg. So all that's to say due to the rarity of the punishment I always seemed to forget just how much it hurt and it took me by surprise every single time. I knew better than to kick my legs but I couldn't help shifting them back and forth a little as the sting started to build.

"Don't you dare start getting smart with me, Ponyboy Curtis! I'm about as mad at you as I've ever been and you can bet your britches I ain't gonna put up with any more nonsense from you tonight. You better learn quick smart when to keep your mouth shut, little boy, 'else you're gonna find yourself right back here! Do you understand me?!" He continued to land sharp slaps down the length of one leg then right back up the other side as he lectured me. I was crying so hard I could hardly catch my breath to answer. Eventually I was able to wail out something that must've resembled enough of an affirmative to satisfy him, because he stopped smacking and let me slide down from his knee soon after.

I was so lost in the pain and bawling so much I didn't get a look at Darry's face but he must've still been pissed as Sodapop stepped in a moment later. I was jigging from foot to foot where Darry had deposited me, unable to keep still even though it was doing nothing to alleviate the stinging sensation that was consuming the back of my legs from mid-calf right to the tops of my thighs. It was only when Soda placed his hands on my shoulders from behind that I realised how much I was moving.

"You need to take a moment, Dar?" My brother asked and I looked up in time to see Darry nod before he sat down heavily on the couch. I kind of wanted to give him a hug but Soda had me turned around and was frog-marching me over to the far corner of the living room quick smart.

"Now you stand right here and think about you're behaviour tonight until one of us comes and gets you, mister." Sodapop told me sternly, positioning me in the corner and placing my arms at my sides. "You keep your arms right there as well. You're on seriously thin ice, Ponyboy and if you don't start to shape up I swear you'll rue the day you ever set eyes on that rock!"

I hated being stood in the corner. I'm a curious person by nature and to be able to hear everything that was going on but not see it or have any part of it was pure torture. And I swear time seemed to move slower whenever I was put there; I once whined to Soda that he'd left me for nearly an hour when in fact it had only been ten minutes, he even showed me the kitchen clock to prove it. Sometimes I'd be allowed to set my own time limit for standing in the corner, but before I was free I would have to apologise for my behaviour and mean it else I'd be sent straight back. Other times I'd just be left there until whichever brother I'd pissed off decided I'd been there long enough to learn my lesson. Right how I wasn't sure what was happening. I guess I'd be here until Darry calmed down.

I was still pretty upset myself and not just because my legs were stinging. This evening had morphed into something completely unexpected and I think it was all finally catching up with me. I felt bad about dragging Johnny into things, bad that Soda thought I didn't listen to him, bad that Darry was so mad he couldn't even deal with me, heck I even felt bad about messing up whatever Sylvia and Dal had planned for their night. But despite all that, I still didn't feel bad about the jump. That had been awesome and, so help me, I didn't regret it. This thought bought me a little comfort as I gently leaned my head forward to rest against the wall, preparing to settle in. I had no idea what kind of punishment was coming my way but sometimes a kid's just gotta do what a kid's gotta do.

I'd figured I'd be standing in the corner for a good while but it felt like only minutes before someone was tugging on my wrist to turn me back around. Surprised and a bit confused, I found myself staring into the face of Sodapop who was crouching down in front of me.

"Arms up," he ordered, which is how I knew he was still annoyed with me as even when Soda is telling me to do something he usually phrases it as a question. I blinked at him, not sure what I was expecting him to say but definitely not that. "Put your arms up, Ponyboy, you're gonna catch a chill standin' around in those wet clothes."

Ah ok, that made sense. I quickly raised my arms like he wanted, not wanting him to mistake my confusion for defiance. He pulled my damp shirt up and over my head, throwing it on the floor next to him with a wet thunk. He must've bought a towel with him because a second later he was rubbing me down vigorously, trying to warm me up as much as dry me off I guess. It was weird having Soda so close to me when I knew he was still pissed. He didn't try to do anything crazy or annoying like tickle under my arms or pretend to find something hiding behind one of my ears. It all felt very clinical.

Once he was satisfied he dropped the towel and picked up one of Darry's old football jerseys, holding it out with the neckline stretched for me to put my head through. He helped me wriggle my arms into the sleeves then sat back on his heels to look at me. We maintained eye contact as he bought his hands up to my hips and gradually began to ease my underwear down my legs. I let him, of course, because A) I wasn't stupid and B) I grown up with enough older brothers (both genetic and honorary) to understand a power-play when I saw one. I almost always got spanked on my bare bottom so it wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was usually Darry who got me ready. The handful of times Soda had taken me to task he'd pulled down my pants but let me keep my briefs on, which I always thought was really cool of him. Now though, without Soda having to say a word, I understood that tonight he wasn't my chilled, easygoing brother; for the next few hours he was one and the same with Darry and the sooner I got that into my head the better.

"Step out," he said once my briefs were at my ankles and I obeyed, breaking eye-contact with him as I did so. I'd gotten the message loud and clear - Soda was in charge tonight. I kept my eyes lowered as he chucked my underwear next to my discarded shirt, letting Darry's jersey fall into place at my mid-thigh. Usually I got to keep my undies on until right before I went over someone's knee so a tiny part of me was hoping that they'd be replaced by a dry pair, but no. I guess there wasn't much point as I'd just wind up taking them off again but still, it was embarrassing to be standing there with nothing on my lower half. At least Darry's jersey was big on me. Soda clearly thought so too as he began to roll up the sleeves which were so long they covered my hands completely. I was still a bit sniffly from earlier and he knew I'd be wanting to wipe my face.

"Now here's what's gonna happen, kiddo," he wasn't looking at me, focusing on sorting out my sleeves instead. I guess this new role was kind of awkward for him too. "Darry and I are gonna have a talk and decide how we want to deal with you. Once we're ready we'll fetch you from the corner and get everything sorted tonight so you don't have to wait. You'll be going to bed with one heck of a sore butt but no one will be mad any more, ok?" I gulped but nodded, waiting for a spanking was the absolute worst and I never did well with it. By now Soda had taken ahold of my hands and was swinging them back and forth gently. "Darry and I want you remember that even though we're upset and disappointed with the choices you made you're still our favourite little brother and we love you to bits and pieces. We don't want you to be scared but you really crossed a line tonight, Pony, so now you need to be brave and face the consequences." I nodded again, despite feeling butterflies start to form in my stomach. "Ok, good boy. Turn back around now and no falling asleep, ok?"

Normally I would've rolled my eyes at Soda's teasing - ONE TIME I'd dozed off when standing in the corner but my brothers and the gang never let me live it down, it was one of their favourite 'let's embarrass Ponyboy' stories to tell - but I didn't feel like that would be a smart move right now so I just mumbled a "Yessir" and did as I was told. Before he left Soda reached out and gave my hair a quick ruffle, which made me feel a teensy bit better.

After a few moments I could hear my brothers' quiet voices coming from the kitchen. I got that weird, prickly feeling when you know someone is talking about you but you can't hear what they're saying. I knew they were discussing my punishment and I felt myself start to fall down that rabbit-hole of trying to imagine what it could be. For sure I was in a world of trouble but it was hard to tell which was going to do for me the most; the lying about feeling sick, the sneaking out, the hitching after dark, disobeying Soda and then, by default, Darry or the jump itself. I guess none of it was great. From Soda's actions earlier I felt certain they'd both be spanking me and golly that made me nervous. But there was nothing to be done about it now, I just had to stand here and wait for my sentence to be handed down. Leaning my forehead back against the intersecting walls I tried to heed Soda's advice about being brave. It was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ponyboy, over here please." The sound of Darry's deep voice had my stomach dropping immediately and suddenly staying in the corner until the end of time didn't seem like such a bad option. But I knew from experience that stalling would only make things worse and I really didn't want him to start counting so I quickly pushed myself out of the corner and scurried over to the couch where he and Soda were sitting. Darry immediately tugged me forward so I was standing between his knees, which was his preferred position when we were going to have a 'serious conversation'. "Now I want you to look at my face. I'm not angry, I'm not upset, I'm not going to yell but you are in a lot of trouble, kiddo, and you know how we handle misbehaviour in this house."

"Yessir," I muttered, really trying to pay attention to what he was saying but finding it almost impossible to stop my eyes from flicking over to the front door. It was never locked and, since it seemed like my punishment was going to happen here rather than in Darry's room like normal, I had a horrible vision of one of the gang bursting in right in the middle of me getting my butt busted. Knowing my luck it would be Steve and he'd never let me live it down. My brothers were so pissed I wouldn't be surprised if he were invited to join the party and I'd wind up over his knee as well just for good measure.

"Hey!" Darry's shout had my head whipping back in his direction and my heart jumping into my mouth. "You'd be wise to start paying attention, little boy, else I'm liable to start thinking the only way to get you to listen is to beat it into your bottom! Is that what needs to happen here?"

"No, I'm sorry, Darry! I'm listening, I swear!" But even as I was talking I could feel my eyes being pulled back towards the front door. I was pretty sure Dally and Johnny wouldn't come back around, but Two-Bit was always stumbling in at odd times. Or what if it was someone who wasn't even part of our gang? It was well known in the greaser community that our door was always open if anyone needed a place to lay low or cool off.

"He's freaking out about one of the guys showing up and seeing him bare-assed over your knee," Soda explained coolly from his end of the couch, always ready to act as the translator between me and Darry. Darry's head swung around to look at the front door, then back at me, then back to the door again.

"Seriously?!" He asked incredulously, like my worry wasn't completely justified. Sure, I didn't have much of a reputation to protect but come on! "Believe me someone walking in on you getting your butt blistered should be the least of your concerns right now, kid!" I shot him the most pathetic, desperate look I could muster, which wasn't hard because I really did feel quite panicky. Luckily it worked because he rolled his eyes and parted his knees a little to set me free. "Oh for goodness sake! Go on then, you've got ten seconds!"

He gave me a hefty swat to get me moving which was completely unnecessary as I was already racing towards the door before he'd even finished speaking. I flicked the lock and felt a huge wave of relief wash over me, only slight tempered when I turned back to my brothers and remembered what I still had coming to me. But at least now I could guarantee it would only be Darry and Soda around to see it. Darry wasted no time in tugging me back against him, I was just hoping the interruption hadn't made him even madder.

"There'll be no more of your foolishness tonight, Ponyboy! It's late, we're all tired and you've got a lot to answer for! So here's the deal; you'll be going over my knee first for the lying, the sneaking out and the putting yourself in danger. Once that's been dealt with you'll go over to Sodapop since you clearly need an extra reminder of just who's in charge when I'm not around." I'd kind of made peace with the fact I was gonna get spanked by both my brothers during my time in the corner but that didn't make hearing Darry confirm it any easier. I felt sick to my stomach. "Soda's also gonna be givin' you bedtime spankings for a week or so just to make sure that lesson sticks real good. And lastly you're gonna be coming to the site with me until I think you can be trusted to behave when I ain't around to keep you in line. You can just sit in the truck and think about if sneaking out was worth it or not."

Now that I hadn't been prepared for. I hate getting spanked as much as any other kid but one thing I could usually always count on was once it was over, all was forgiven and I wasn't in trouble any more. That clearly wasn't going to be the case this time and I for sure hadn't thought about that when I was plotting my night time visit to the lake, but I guess that was my brothers' intention. They wanted me to remember this one.

"But…but…" I stammered, unable to keep the shock out of my voice. Despite my best efforts, I could feel my eyes starting to fill with tears. I was looking back and forth between my brothers and when my gaze snagged with Sodapop's he subtly shook his head at me, warning me not to kick up a fuss. I gulped before focusing back on Darry, leaving my sentence unfinished.

"I know it seems like a lot, bub, but we need you to understand how serious we are about this," Darry had taken my chin in his hand so he was speaking directly into my face. "You're gettin' older everyday but you sure as heck ain't grown yet, so we're gonna nip whatever rebellious streak you got goin' on in the bud right now. Keeping you safe is our number one priority and you may not always agree with our decisions but you will respect them. We love you to much to just let you run around and do whatever you like, you understand me?"

"Yessir." My voice wobbled slightly because I was still mighty nervous, but I made a conscious effort to stand up straighter and meet my brother's eye. I felt like he was speaking to me not as an equal exactly but definitely less like a little kid than he normally does. It made me want to act more grown up somehow, so I nodded my head solemnly. "Thank you for explainin' it to me."

"Your welcome," Darry replied, chucking me under my chin. He had a strange look on his face, like he was trying hard not to laugh and when I glanced across at Soda he too had a funny little grin playing around his mouth. My brothers often reacted like this when I was trying to get them to take me seriously and I hated it because it felt like they were laughing at me, but before I had time to start pouting Darry was patting his knee and gesturing for me to lean over. "Ready, kiddo?"

He didn't wait for an answer before flipping me over his lap. Since I was only wearing the jersey there was nothing he needed to take down and the suddenness of it took me by surprise. Plus since Darry was right handed it meant I was over his knee facing away from Soda, which I wasn't best pleased about. Partly because it meant I wouldn't be able to reach out and hold his hand for comfort but also because my butt was like right there in front of him. You'd think I'd be way passed that by now, but I could feel my cheeks heating up at the thought of him being so up close and personal with Darry taking me to task. This was hardly the first time Soda had seen me get spanked, but still, he wasn't usually so present.

I'm pretty sure Darry would have classed my grievances as more 'foolishness' so I guess it was lucky he got to spanking me before I could do something dumb like say them out loud. All thoughts fell from my head when that first smack landed even though I could tell Darry was just warming up. He often started spankings this way, whether for his benefit or mine I couldn't say. He tended to spank all over my butt with quick, sharp smacks that stung but not in the same way as the more heavy-handed spanks he'd move onto later. He'd cover my entire bottom at least three or four times, by which time I'd be squirming and starting to cry. Sometimes at that point he'd stop and rub my back a little or readjust my position if I'd been more wriggly than usual but tonight nothing was happening as it normally does because he unexpectedly reached under me and lifted me up from his lap.

I found myself once again standing in front of my brothers, confused and teary. My shirt had gotten rucked up over Darry's knee and I quickly yanked it down, not yet at that point in the punishment where any sense of modesty goes completely out the window. All these unexpected changes to routine tonight where making me feel nervous and wrong-footed and I didn't like it one bit. One thing I knew for certain was that Darry hadn't pulled me up because he was finished with me but I was in no rush to find out what he had planned so I just kept my mouth shut and waited.

"Ok, go and fetch the hairbrush, kiddo," he directed, frowning slightly when I let out a long whine. I hadn't been spanked with the hairbrush for a good long while, not since the time I was playing kickball with some neighbourhood kids and we accidentally busted a window, but I sure as heck remembered how much it hurt! "Hey now, none of that little boy, you've earned it fair and square. You remember where it is?" I nodded, but in typical Darry fashioned he ignored me and answered his own question. "Top of my big dresser, on the right hand side. You fetch it and bring it straight back here, ok? No messin' now else you really ain't gonna like me!"

I scampered off quick smart, not wanting him to have any excuse to lay into me more than he was already planning to. The hairbrush was, of course, exactly where he said it would be and I scowled at it as I picked it up. God, I really hated that thing. It felt cool and heavy in my hands but I knew from experience just how effectively it could light my ass up.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky that I wasn't from a family that used objects for punishments often, in fact I could count on one hand the number of times Darry had used something other than his hand on me and I don't think my parents ever did. From what I'd picked up at school and around the neighbourhood, a lot of boys my age got whippin's with their Daddies' belts. That sounded just awful to me. Much as it was somewhat embarrassing to have Darry take me over his knee, there was comfort in having him hold onto me during a spanking and I was always thankful for the physical closeness once I started to get upset. One time after Steve had been teasing me about it, I'd told Darry I was too big to go over his knee any more and he'd laughed for about five minutes straight before telling me in no uncertain terms that I'd only be too old once I no longer fit so I'd better make my peace with it. Since I can't imagine ever being as big as Darry, I figure his style of discipline ain't gonna change anytime soon.

Anyway because getting spanked with an object was so rare in our house, it really made an impression and I guess that was Darry's intention. Just holding the brush was making my heart beat faster and I was already deciding all the ways I was going to become a perfect angel so Darry never had cause to use it on me again. I'm pretty sure I'd made the exact same promises to myself the last time he'd sent me to fetch it but like Darry's always tellin' me, I just don't use my head. Taking a deep breath to try and steady my nerves, I cautiously made my way back to the living room with the hairbrush held out in front of me like it could rear up and bite me any second. Darry watched me with raised eyebrows, clearly unimpressed by what he would call my 'dramatics' but I could see Soda smirking just a little even though he was trying to hide it.

Moving back into position in front of Darry I dropped it into his lap as soon as I could, giving him my best puppy dog eyes just because you never know. He picked up the hairbrush and tapped it a few times against his thigh before looking up to meet my eye. He continued tapping, gradually increasing the force behind the swats until they were making a loud thwapping sound and I couldn't look away, mesmerised by the up and down motion as I imagined my backside in the firing line. Darry wasn't even flinching. Eventually he stopped and I gulped, getting his message loud and clear. Darry was calling the shots and no amount of pleading or puppy eyes was going to save me.

"Over," he stated, his voice completely calm and his mouth set in a grim line. I hurried to comply, knowing my fate was sealed.

* * *

_Hey everyone, just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who has supported this little story so far! I find discipline scenes really hard to write well so please let know if you have any tips/feedback! _


	7. Chapter 7

The first swat rang out like a gunshot and I let out a yelp despite myself. I hate to admit it but I've always found the noise the hairbrush makes as it makes contact with my bare skin really really scary. Not to mention the pain, which seems to spread out from the point of impact so in no time at all it feels like my entire bottom is on fire. Any plans I had about keeping still were immediately forgotten and, despite Darry holding me tight against his midsection, my feet were scrabbling desperately against the worn carpet of the living room like I was about to do the 400m sprint.

Darry didn't talk as he spanked, which was unusual for him but I guess he'd said all he needed to at this point. Any lingering displeasure he felt was being expertly taken out on my poor bottom and my wails didn't seem to be affecting him at all. He just kept bringing the hairbrush down again and again and again. Darry liked to follow a pattern when he spanked and I guess the hairbrush afforded him more flexibility than just his hand as I could feel the different swings he was using on different parts of my butt. At first he focused on my sit spots, bouncing the brush back and forth like he was hitting a drum. I thought that was bad until he moved onto the undercurve of my bottom and added in a wrist flick, the momentum propelling me forward and almost lifting me up from his lap. Unlike every other highschool jock, Darry had made sure not to lose his athlete's physique after graduation and holy moly was my butt paying the price!

He seemed to pay attention to that specific area for a good long time and it was getting to the point where my whole backside just felt like a hot mass of pain. I'd pretty much worn myself out from struggling so much earlier on, so by now I was just laying over his knee sobbing for all I was worth. When I looked down I could see a large wet patch on the carpet from my tears and both my head and throat were starting to hurt from crying so much. I was miserable. But Darry just kept right on going, not saying a word.

"You're wearin' him out, Dar," Soda eventually spoke up, reminding me that he was right there watching all this unfold. I could only imagine what state my behind was in (firetruck red and throbbing like a cartoon baboon butt since you ask) but Soda could actually see it and the fact that he was willing to question Darry when he was in full-on punishment mode was testament to just how sorry I was looking. Darry normally hated when Sodapop did that and my brother often got his head bitten off for his trouble. But I guess since tonight's lesson was all about me seeing him and Soda as equal authorities in my life that wasn't gonna cut it this time.

"I know," Darry grunted in response, sounding pretty worn out himself. For about three seconds I allowed myself to hope this meant we were done but my heart sank at his next words. "But I really need him to remember this one."

I let out another long wail as he shifted me even further forward over his lap so my toes were only just touching the floor. I had no time to catch my breath before a line of fire rained down on the crease where my bottom meets my thighs and I think my brain must have switched into some kind of survival mode because I simply could not keep still any more. My legs began kicking up on their own accord, not even trying to run, just doing any kind of movement to try and escape the sting of the hairbrush. Darry growled deep in his throat but I was too far gone to care. I wanted off his lap right now!

"Hold his legs, Pepsi!" He ordered and I felt my ankles suddenly clamped together in an iron-like grip. Darry might be our Superman but Soda can hold his own and there was no way I was going to be able to fight off him _and_ Darry. I let out some kind of primal scream that turned into a sob when the realisation hit me that there was nothing I could do except lie there and take my punishment until my brothers decided to let me up. Any remaining fight left me all at once and I fell limp over Darry's knee, wrapping my arms around one of his legs just to have something to hold on to. He must've noticed my change in demeanour because his voice was less harsh when he next spoke. "That's enough of that, little boy! We're almost done and all you're doing is holding things up. Are you ready to start behaving again? Or do I need to add extra?!"

"Noooo," I sobbed, completely beside myself. "I'm sorry, Darry, no extra! I'll be good!"

"He's being good, Dar," Soda reiterated, so perhaps my words weren't as clear as I thought. I was crying a whole lot. He'd let go of my ankles by now but was still holding my legs in his lap, gently massaging up and down my calves. He sometimes did this after a track meet or a particularly tough practice and it always relaxed me. Right now it was also helping to distract me a little from the red hot fire consuming my backside.

"Mmhmm," Darry replied, sounding way too sceptical for my liking, and seconds later I felt the swoosh of air right before the hairbrush cracked down once more. I'd lost all concept of time by then, I might've been laying over his lap for five minutes or five hours. Nothing existed apart from the hairbrush and my bottom, which I'd pretty much accepted was never going to recover.

I was crying so hard I didn't even notice when Darry finally stopped spanking, it was only when he lifted me up off his lap that I realised. Usually after a spanking he lets me lay over his knee for a couple of minutes to calm down while he rubs my back and says nice things. This time he hardly let my feet touch the floor, holding onto me under my arms and giving me a little shake. Even through my tears, I could make out the stricken look on his face. "I hate doin' that to you, kid, but believe you me I'll kick your butt a thousand times over if that's what it's gonna take to keep you safe. No more sneaking out, ok?"

I didn't even have the chance to agree with him before he had pulled me tightly into his chest. He stood up almost immediately, holding me against him with my head smushed into his neck and his other arm supporting under my butt. It kind of hurt but then everything hurt at this point and I was crying too much to even make an attempt at forming words. I was just happy to have him cuddling me and hoped the death-grip I had around his neck was enough to convey it. With his free hand Darry leant down and picked up the discarded hairbrush, causing me to press myself even harder against him as I did not want that thing within a hundred metres of me any time soon. I guess I let out a whine as well because he quietly shushed me before tossing it in Soda's direction.

"Put that back where it belongs, Pepsi. I'm gonna clean him up a bit and get him ready for bed so he can go down as soon as you're done with him. We'll be quick though, I don't wanna drag this out any longer than necessary." He didn't wait for Soda to respond before carrying me out of the room. As soon as we reached the hallway he buried his face in my hair and mumbled, "Goddamit, kid, that was tough. Don't ever make me have to punish you like that again, you hear me?"

Still too upset to talk I just shook my head vigorously against him and he must've understood because he kissed the back of my hair. Despite saying we'd be quick, upon entering the bathroom Darry sat down on the edge of the tub and just held me for a good few minutes. I guess we both needed the comfort and a chance to calm down a little. Keeping my face hidden in Darry's neck was making it hard to breath so after I minute I turned my head to the side, resting it on his shoulder as he slowly rocked me back and forth. Our bathroom is pretty tiny, so it was easy for him to reach across to the sink and flick on the cold tap. I watched tiredly as he gathered a small amount of water in his cupped hand, then carefully held it up to my lips. I hadn't realised how thirsty I was until he gently tipped some into my mouth and I gulped it down. He did this a few more times, letting me sip the water from his hand until I'd had enough.

Eventually my sobs became less harsh and I was hovering on the edge of sleep when Darry cleared his throat and patted my hip. I understood this to mean quiet time was over so I pushed myself off his chest and sat back on his lap, his hands supporting my lower back to keep me from slipping off and my legs tucked either side of him resting on the edge of the bath. For a few long seconds we just looked at each other, our faces only inches apart. It was kind of weird because I looked at Soda like this all the time when we were falling asleep, but Darry was much more protective of his personal space so to be this physically close to him was rare. To be honest, he looked exhausted and I'd bet I wasn't lookin' too hot either. I'd sneakily managed to wipe my face off on his shirt but from the amount I'd been crying I knew that definitely wouldn't have been sufficient.

"Alright, we can't sit here all night, let's get you sorted and back out to Sodapop." Just like that, confident, in charge Darry was back and I was more than happy to let him take control. At this point I felt like I'd been awake for about a hundred years and was so out of it I could barely remember my own name. I slid down from his knee and he put his hands on my shoulders, steering me over the the sink.

Standing behind me he grabbed a wash-cloth and doused it under the tap before dragging it down my face. Using the mirror above the sink to guide him, Darry repeated the process a few times, moving his hand from my shoulder to the back of my neck when I instinctively tried to pull away as he paid particular attention to a spot on my hairline. "You're getting a shower tomorrow," he muttered, more to himself than to me. Since he then proceeded to wash all around the back of my neck and behind my ears I can hardly see how it mattered. Once he was satisfied he reached out and grabbed my toothbrush, squirting a dollop of toothpaste onto it before taking my right hand and literally curling my fingers so I was holding it. I met his eyes blankly in the mirror, so completely wiped out I had no idea what to do next. I was still hiccuping on left-over sobs and my butt was throbbing something awful.

"Brush your teeth," Darry instructed, giving my elbow a nudge. "I'm gonna get you some more water and a clean shirt." I did as I was told, brushing my teeth on auto-pilot until Darry came back. He set the glass of water down next to the tap and took a hold of my wrist, pulling it away from my mouth and taking my toothbrush out of my hand. "Ok, that's enough. Rinse your mouth real quick and then you can have another drink."

Again I did as instructed like I was a robot, sucking some water from the tap to rinse while Darry cleaned my toothbrush off and put it away. Once we were both done he handed me the glass and I downed it in one. He frowned at me a little, taking the glass from me with one hand and wiping underneath my eyes with the other. I was still a bit teary.

"You want some more?" He questioned and refilled the glass when I nodded. It took me a little longer to finish this time but I did it, pleased that the coolness seemed to be easing the ache in my throat and head. "You gotta pee?" Realising that I really did, I nodded again but couldn't seem to make my body move. Darry sighed, not in a mad way just kind of impatient, then gave me a gentle push in the direction of the toilet. "Go on then, I ain't helpin' you with that!"

I stumbled over to the can, quickly taking care of business while Darry sat back down on the edge of the bath tub. I could see him watching me in the mirror, slowly shaking his head. "You ain't actin' right at all, kiddo, I think it's best you sleep in my bed tonight. You're comin' with me tomorrow anyway so it makes sense for that too." I nodded, which seemed to be the only action I was capable of at the moment, before flushing the toilet and moving back over to the sink to wash my hands. "I know tonight's been a lot but you're nearly done. We'll change your shirt real quick then Soda's gonna take care of you and -"

At the mention of Soda, my head whipped around to stare at Darry. Last thing I'd seen before we left the living room was him handing Sodapop the hairbrush. Suddenly all the energy I'd been lacking for the last ten minutes seemed to surge through me at once and I could feel my heart hammering in my chest.

"No brush?!" I managed to gasp out, not sure if I was asking or pleading or what I'd do it my brother's response wasn't what I hoped. I felt genuinely scared. Luckily Darry immediately understood the problem and was quick to reassure me.

"No, baby, no brush. We're all done with that for tonight, I promise." He'd reached out to cup my face as he spoke, gently stroking my cheek. With his other hand he reached around me and turned off the tap. "Take a deep breath, ok? Let's get you into a clean shirt then we'll go and find Soda together. Come on."

He tugged me back towards him and I found myself once again standing between my brother's knees. I raised my arms without prompting, concentrating on my breathing like he'd told me. He quickly pulled the jersey over my head, replacing it with the t-shirt I usually wore for bed. Once he'd straightened it up he put his hands on my waist and looked at me carefully.

"Are you feeling calmer now?" He asked seriously, pushing my hair back from my forehead. I nodded, still not trusting myself to speak. "Ok then, good boy. Ready?"

He was already getting to his feet, holding out his hand for me to take in mine. I chewed my lip for a few more moments before taking one final deep breath in and reaching out to hold his hand. It was time to go and see Soda.


	8. Chapter 8

Darry lead my into the living room by the hand and for once I was glad of it, because if he hadn't I probably would've just stayed standing in the bathroom and wound up in even more trouble. I couldn't seem to keep a thought in my head, let alone act on one and while Darry was being nice at the moment, I knew I was still in trouble and he wouldn't hold back if he thought I was being disobedient. Soda had sat back down in his spot on the couch with his hands clenched and his head hanging low but he looked up as Darry and I entered. He smiled sympathetically as Darry guided me over to stand in front of him, letting go of my hand and sitting down in his recliner once I was positioned.

"Let's get this show on the road, Soda. Kid's about ready to drop, I practically had to hold him up to pee." Soda hummed in response to Darry, not taking his eyes off me.

"You doin' ok, kiddo?" He asked, reaching out to push some hair behind my ear. It was getting kind of long but I always kicked up a fuss when it was time to get it cut so I think Darry had been putting it off as much as I had. I nodded my head, only to hear Darry clear his throat authoritatively from behind me.

"Use your voice, Ponyboy. Little boys answer adults in this house." I didn't have to turn around to know he was frowning and could immediately tell that soft, caring Darry had been replaced by disciplinarian Darry now that we were back in the lounge.

"Yessir," I amended quickly, knowing that would cover all my bases as it could apply to both Darry and Soda. Darry didn't respond so I guess that was the right answer for him but Soda sighed.

"You don't gotta call me Sir, Pony. You can just say 'yes Soda', ok?"

"Yes, Soda," I repeated, meeting his eyes for the first time. He looked so sad and I knew he was dreading what he was about to do just as much as I was but I'd put him in this position by not doing as he told me and I felt just terrible about it. He nodded and sighed again.

"Welp, you ready to do this, bud? I know you're tired so we can be real quick so long as you behave yourself, ok?"

"No brush!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. I don't even know why I said it as Darry had already reassured me in the bathroom but I guess I wanted to be certain Soda had gotten the memo as well. Soda opened his mouth to respond but Darry beat him to it.

"Hey, you watch that tone, little boy! You askin' Soda or tellin' him?" I bit my lip and kept quiet as I turned to peek at Darry over my shoulder. I'd definitely not been asking. He raised an eyebrow at me so I knew he'd got me sussed.

"Leave him be, Darry, it's just his nerves. Don't worry, Pone, I've hidden the hairbrush in a super secret place where mean old Darry ain't never gonna find it," Soda was smiling at me as he said it so I knew he was joking but it was nice of him to try and cheer me up. I giggled a little, even though I was still wobbling close to tears.

"Soda…" Darry groaned, sounding thoroughly fed up with the both of us. "What did we _just_ talk about? This ain't gonna work unless he has the same rules for both of us! He needs consistency else he just winds up confused and we find ourselves in a situation like what happened tonight!"

"Alright, Dar, geez, I get it! But you also said you were gonna let me handle my part of this so I'm not sure why you're even here still!" I sucked in an anxious breath at Soda's snappy response, I would never dare speak to Darry like that if I wanted to live to see my next birthday. But then things were different between him and Soda and I guess this was just another example of that. "I didn't interfere when you were having your 'conversation' with him!"

"Actually you did," Darry dead-panned, referring to Soda's earlier interruption when he was spanking me. I heard the recliner creak as he got to his feet. "But fine, you go ahead and do your thing. I'll be right over here cleanin' up these chips _someone_ threw all over creation."

Soda rolled his eyes as Darry moved past us and I might've giggled again if I hadn't felt so nervous. I watched Darry as he crouched down behind the couch, only looking away when Soda tapped my hip to get my attention.

"As I was sayin' we can make this a quick one, honey, and I promise ya I'm only gonna be usin' my hand. Now I know Darry's already made you plenty sorry for the choices you made tonight but I wanna hear you say it. You're gonna tell me exactly what you're sorry for so I know you understand real good, then we can be done. That sound like a plan?"

"Yes, Soda," I said, already running through what I was going to say in my head. He nodded and pulled me around to his left side (Soda's left handed so I always face the opposite way when I go over his knee) and wasted no time in tugging me across his lap. Soda ain't as big as Darry but he spread his legs a little to offer more support for me and angled my upper body to rest on the couch cushions instead of hanging down like Darry had me. He tucked his arm snugly around my waist and, since Darry hadn't bought me any underwear to put on when I got changed, there was nothing else for him to do except start swatting.

Sodapop doesn't spank me half as often as Darry does, so it usually takes him a little time to settle in and find his groove. But not tonight. He went straight to walloping me with a steady, confident rhythm and in no time at all I was crying my eyes out again. There's nothing worse than getting spanked on an already sore butt and the realisation that I was going to be in this exact same position everyday before bedtime for the foreseeable future did not help my mood one bit. Soda spanked in silence for a few minutes, making sure the fire in my behind was well and truly reignited before speaking.

"Ok, bub, you're doing real good. Now why don't you start in on your apologies so I can quit wailin' on your sore little butt and give you a big hug instead, hmm?" I'd buried my head in the cushions to try and muffle my sobs which really wasn't conducive to talking but I tried anyway, mumbling my sorries into the couch. Soda wasn't having any of it though, he always insisted on me owning up to my bad behaviour just like our Mom had and receiving a proper apology was a big deal to him, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he pulled me up on it. "Nu-uh, that ain't gonna fly around here, little man. If you're grown enough to do the crime then you're grown enough to own up to it and admit you screwed up. So let's try that again, please."

Even though he said please I knew he wasn't really asking and to be fair, my brothers did deserve better than that half-assed apology, it just would be a whole lot easier to think straight and find the right words if my butt didn't feel like it was about to burst into flames. Soda was spanking slow but heavy, which meant I really felt every spank and I swear he was moving closer and closer to my sit-spots with every passing second. Summoning the tiny amount of energy I had left, I lifted my head out of the cushions and turned it to the side so I was facing the living room which would hopefully mean my brothers could hear me better.

"I'm sorry for sneaking out and not telling you where I was and hitch-hikin' and stayin' out past curfew and makin' Johnny go with me even though he didn't want to and gettin' Dally mad and -" I had to stop suddenly to catch my breath, trying to talk while crying so hard really wasn't easy. Soda patted my back encouragingly and I could somehow feel that Darry was leaning up against the back of the couch, listening in and keeping an eye on things which I guess made sense as I was apologising to him too.

"Good job, buddy! Keep goin' now, you're doin' real good," Soda praised quietly so I took a few shuddering breaths and continued.

"I'm sorry for disobeyin' you and not doing what I'm told and sorry for pretending I was sick and makin' you miss the end of your show and talkin' back and and and…" I was struggling by this point, desperately racking my brains for anything else I needed to apologise for. My brother was still bringing his hand down good and hard so there must be something! "And I'm sorry for getting my clothes dirty and drippin' on the floor and -" Soda cut me off, sounding half-exasperated and half-amused.

"Alright, Pone, don't go gettin' yourself all worked up, I ain't askin' you to apologise for breathin'! Think carefully about what happened tonight and then we'll be getting somewhere ok?" I didn't know how my brother could be so calm when I literally felt like I might die if he didn't let up on my soon.

"I'm sorry for goin' to the lake!" I cried out after a minute, figuring that must be what he was waiting on. "I'm really, really sorry, Soda! I promise I'll never ever go there by myself again!"

"That's good to hear, kiddo and you're on the right track, but there's something else you did tonight that I really ain't happy about and I need your word that I ain't gonna hear of you doin' it again, so get your thinkin' cap on else I reckon we'll be able to fry tomorrow's eggs on your behind!" To my horror Soda had continued to spank me, not pausing or slowing down in the slightest. If anything his hand seemed to be getting heavier. I had no idea what he wanted me to say and after a few seconds I let out a desperate whine.

"I don't know!" I wailed in frustration. "Please Soda, I'm sorry for everything I swear!"

"You do know, Ponyboy, come on now! You didn't just sneak off to the lake, you went to the lake to…" He left his sentence hanging, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

"Jump off the High Rock?" I questioned, still not really understanding what he was getting at.

"Damn straight! Now what have you gotta say about that?" I sniffled, quickly turning my head to wipe my face off on the couch cushion to try and buy myself some time. Truthfully I didn't know what I had to say about the jump. I certainly didn't regret doing it, although I know I didn't go about it in the best way. But if Soda hadn't been so weird about letting me jump in the first place, I wouldn't have had to sneak around behind everyone's backs the way I did. I let out a yelp as a particularly hard swat landed low down on my bottom, jerking me out of my musings. Soda's tone was definitely more annoyed now and I could feel his frustration on my bottom. "Well? You got something you wanna say? Because I can keep this up all night, little boy! Jumping like you did was wrong and I'm waitin' on that apology so what's the hold up?"

"I don't know," I cried again, feeling worse now Soda seemed to be getting mad again. But I'm nothing if not stubborn and I wasn't going to apologise for something I didn't believe was wrong. Why was it wrong for me to jump but not for anyone else? "All the other kids do it and it ain't even that high!"

"I don't care what all the other kids do! You ain't gonna talk your way out of this one, Ponyboy, so just swallow your pride and say you're sorry! You know you're in the wrong!" He was definitely spanking me harder now but the increased pain only seemed to be fuelling my anger.

"No!" I yelled, arching my back up to try and reach behind me to cover my bottom. "I'm not sorry I jumped! You should be sorry for tellin' me not to do something you've already done! You're a…a…hypocrite!" It took me a second to think of the word and the minute I shouted it, everything went silent.

I craned my neck back to try and look at Soda over my shoulder. I'm not sure I've ever yelled at him like that in my life and I wasn't sure what his reaction was going to be. His mouth was hanging open in shock and his spanking hand was frozen in mid-air. It would have been funny if I hadn't been so upset. He slowly began to shake his head back and forth and I gulped, quickly coming to the realisation that mouthing off to my brother when I was butt-naked over his knee probably wasn't the smartest move.

"Hell no," Soda muttered, still shaking his head. "Hell no, don't you dare try and turn this around on me!" He kept talking, his voice quickly increasing in volume but I have absolutely no idea what he said because he bought his hand crashing down onto my bottom and it hurt so bad I immediately forgot about anything else. Soda kept bringing his hand down faster and harder than I ever thought possible and all I could do is yell and struggle to get away from him. We were both angry but he was bigger and stronger and, whether it was his intention or not, he was really starting to hurt me.

Darry was there not a second too soon. He swooped down and dragged me off of Soda's knee, tucking me under his arm and against his side like a football. He then swings me around so I'm against his chest and shoves my head into his shoulder, probably to try and shut me up because I'm still hollering fit to bust.

"Alright you two, I think that's enough for tonight," he says, an oasis of calm in the middle of this sudden shit-storm. "Pony's gonna sleep in my room tonight, Soda, then you guys can talk things over tomorrow. Everyone's too upset right now."

"Did you hear what he said, Darry?! Why was he talkin' like that? He just needs to say sorry, that's all he had to do!" It almost sounded like Soda was crying himself, but Darry had a firm hold on the back of my head so I couldn't look around to check.

"I know, Soda, but he doesn't understand! He was so young when happened, he probably don't hardly remember it. And we never talked about it because it made you too upset, remember? Mom thought it was for the best." I have that weird feeling I sometimes get with my brothers, that they know more about my life than I do. I guess it's inevitable, with our parents gone, that they're the keepers of all my memories now but it still makes me feel cheated somehow, like they'll be things I never know for certain because they'll have been filtered through Darry and Soda's own rememberings first. This sounds like it might be one of those things and I'm curious to know more but Darry squeezes me tighter when I start squirming in his arms and it's definitely a warning.

"I can't tell him! If he really doesn't remember then I don't want him to, I wish to god I didn't either! He just needs to listen to me so I can keep him safe! He should've listened!" Soda's voice cracked on the last word so he was definitely crying. Leapin' lizards this evening was mess.

"I know, little buddy, it's alright. Pony's ok, way too mouthy for my liking, but ok. Nothing happened to him and tomorrow you guys will talk, alright? Everything will seem better in the morning." Darry was talking to Soda like he talks to me after one of my nightmares. What on earth was going on? I hated feeling out of the loop like this! I heard Soda sniff hard and quietly agree before his footsteps moved past us and receded down the hall towards our bedroom. Darry sighed heavily and finally took his hand away from my head so I could look up. He met my eyes and shook his head, sighing in defeat. "Geez Louise, what a night! You really know how to put the cat among the pigeons, huh kiddo?"

I didn't know what to say to that, so just stared back at him and tried to quit crying. He sighed again before turning on his heel and walking us through to his bedroom.

"Let's get you into bed," he mumbled, already lowering me onto the mattress. He had enough sense to lay me on my stomach else I reckon I woud've gone right back to screaming the place down. I couldn't remember a time when my behind had hurt so bad. I was still quite upset and Darry rubbed my back until I'd calmed down a little. I was still pretty freaked out about what had just happened with Sodapop so I guess he figured he wasn't gonna settle me all the way because he stood up after a few minutes and smoothed my hair back. "I know, baby, it's all a bit confusing isn't it? Soda's just going through some stuff from when we were kids and you've kinda got caught in the crosshairs. I'm gonna go sit with him for a minute to make sure he's ok so I want you to close your eyes and get some sleep. I mean it, bub, you keep your butt right here in this bed, no eavesdropping on conversations that ain't none of your concern!"

I did have a bit of a reputation for listening in on closed-door discussions but how else was I supposed to find out anything?! Take right now for example, seemed to me like it most definitely was my concern! But either way I was too exhausted, emotionally and physically, to do anything about it even if I'd wanted to so I just turned my head to the side and watched Darry tug the sheets up to cover my lower half, hiccuping as I tried in vain to get my breathing under control. He stroked my hair a couple more times and I felt my eyes start to flicker despite myself.

"Tell Soda…" I mumbled, a huge yawn creeping up on me and cutting me off. "Tell Soda…tell him…"

"I know, honey, I'll tell him for you. Close you're eyes now, kiddo, you need your sleep," I was dimly aware that Darry was fobbing me off but now it came down to it I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted him to tell Soda anyway. I guess just that I was thinking of him.

My eyes were really starting to feel heavy now and Darry always sleeps with at least three pillows so I was comfy as all get out (not counting the throbbing ache in my behind). He must've figured I was just about to drop off because he pulled out his secret weapon, reaching out and brushing the side of his finger down the bridge of my nose a couple of times so my eyes instinctively blinked shut. I only ever let him get away with that trick if I was really really tired; it worked every time but was so obvious that if I was anything other than right on the edge of sleep I'd call him out on it and bat his hand away. Sure enough my eyes eventually refused to reopen, so I guess my big brother had called it right this time.

I heard Darry's footsteps as he left the room, leaving the door ajar how I liked it even though he always complained about light coming through. Despite everything that had happened and the uncomfortable heat radiating from my bottom, I felt safe and loved as I finally gave in and drifted off to sleep. I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but I was praying with everything in me that it wouldn't turn out worse than today.

* * *

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and I hope Ponyboy's punishment was satisfactory! Only a couple more chapters to go so if there's anything you'd really like to see included, mention it in a review or send me a PM._

_Pollen_


	9. Chapter 9

It seemed like I'd only just closed my eyes when I felt someone lifting my hips off the bed and not so gently tugging a pair of shorts up my legs. I groaned and tried to arch away from whoever it was, not just because I wanted to stay asleep but also because even in my drowsy state I knew I did not want anyone or anything touching my behind. During the night the pain had settled into a dull kind of throbbing, but I knew from experience that the second anything came into contact with the skin it would reignite everything from the night before.

"Shhh, you're ok, we just gotta get you lookin' respectable since you're comin' to work with me today, remember? Can't have the boss seein' my kid brother with his bottom hanging out now can we?" Darry was talking softly so I figured it was early enough that he didn't want to risk waking Soda up. He finished pulling the clothes up around my waist and I shifted uncomfortably, letting out another whine. I could feel myself getting crankier by the second and it must've shown on my face because Darry grimaced apologetically. "I couldn't find your cut-offs, kiddo, but I figure Soda's old gym shorts might be more comfortable anyway. They're a bit big on you but you ain't gonna be runnin' any marathons or nothin' so I reckon they'll do just fine for today. Come on, I let you sleep longer than I realised so we gotta hustle!"

Without waiting for an answer he reached under my arms and hauled me up, propping me on his hip and carrying me out to the truck. I rested my head against his shoulder, squinting as we emerged from the house into the early morning sunlight. Usually I wasn't bad at waking up early, not like Sodapop who only ever got up before 10 if he had to work or Darry was on a productivity kick, but today I wasn't feeling it at all.

"I'm tired, Darry," I mumbled against his neck, even though he'd probably already figured that out by the fact that I was just a dead-weight in his arms. Usually when he carried me, not that he did it a lot but he seemed to get a kick out of it and I didn't really mind as long as no one else was around to see us, I'd put at least one of my arms around his neck to help him out but today even that seemed like too much effort.

"I know you are, babe. You're gonna sleep in the truck, ok?" I didn't respond because it wasn't really ok. If I was gonna be sleeping in the truck anyway, couldn't he have just left me in bed? If my butt hadn't still felt like you could fry an egg on it I probably would have griped more but as it was I just pouted silently. By now we'd reached the truck and Darry opened the passenger side door, lowering his arms so I could climb in. "In you get, Pone, you can lie down across the seat if you don't wanna sit."

I clambered into the cab, rolling my eyes when I was sure Darry wasn't looking. Of course I didn't wanna sit and probably never would ever again thanks to my big brothers! This morning was the worst and I just wanted it to go away! Luckily Darry didn't seem to have picked up on my bad attitude yet but I'd need to watch myself as he never let bratty behaviour slide and wouldn't care a jot that I was just sore and tired and grouchy. I didn't feel like I'd woken up all the way yet so maybe I'd be able to nod off again on the ride out to wherever he was working this month and avoid getting popped. For the sake of my behind, I sure hoped so!

Darry seemed to have a similar idea as he placed his left hand on my head as soon as he got into the driver's seat and began scratching my scalp. The top of my head was right up against Darry's thigh but I could still lay comfortably enough across the bench seat if I tucked my legs up some. "Why don't you close your eyes and try to get back to sleep, kiddo? It's still early and last night was pretty full-on. Good job you can still fit, huh?"

I hummed in response, then quickly thought better of it and corrected myself with a "Yessir" just in case I was still in the dog house. Better safe than sorry! Darry looked down at me and smirked, clearly amused at my attempt to gain brownie points. "Nice save, little boy. Don't worry though, you're good. What always happens after you get a spanking, hmm?"

I wanted to say something smart like 'my butt hurts' or 'I really miss sitting down without wincing' but I knew the answer he was looking for and for once decided to keep my mouth in check. "I'm forgiven."

"That's right," Darry nodded, turning on the ignition and pulling carefully out of our driveway. Darry was the most cautious driver I knew. "So that means you're not in trouble anymore. Once it's over, it's over so you can drop the Sirs now."

"I know, I just…this time…with Soda…" I trailed off, not even sure what I was trying to say. I guess that I felt like Soda was still mad at me despite everything that had happened last night and if he was, then it wasn't really over was it? Thinking about it bought back a lot of feelings from yesterday and I shifted against Darry uncomfortably, regretting bringing it up.

"You and Soda are gonna talk tonight, buddy, and everything will get cleared up. It was my fault really, he needed more time to get his head on straight and I should've seen it. But that's between me and him, the only thing I want you thinkin' about today is how you're gonna stay outta trouble for the foreseeable future because so help me god I've seen enough of your bare ass to last me a lifetime!"

"Dar!" I whined immediately, my face heating up in embarrassment. Darry's booming laugh filled the cab and I reached out and began punching his knee over and over to make my displeasure known. After a moment however I found myself giggling along because it was pretty funny and at least now I wasn't stressing so much about Soda. Darry can be pretty sneaky when he wants and I guess that was his aim all along but it felt good to be silly and release some tension after the intensity of last night.

"Alright kiddo, let's settle down," Darry finally said, wiping his eyes and glancing down at me. "The site's pretty far out so we got a bit of a drive ahead, how about you close your eyes and go back to sleep? I know you're still tired."

"'Kay," I mumbled, cracking my back a little before settling back down with a sigh. Darry started scratching at my head again and that, mixed with the soft vibration of the truck's engine, lulled me right to sleep in no time at all.

Next time I woke I was in a much better mood but I wasn't half cookin'. I peeled myself half up from where I'd stretched out fully along the leather seat, propping myself up on my elbows and looking blearily around the cab. There was no sign Darry so I figured he'd gotten out which made sense as, given how sweaty and thirsty I felt, I'd been asleep for a good while. It was stuffy in the truck even thought Darry had rolled down both windows for me and, it took me a few seconds to realise, he'd also draped some kind of blanket across the windscreen in an attempt to keep the sun off. My brother really was a stand up guy.

If it hadn't been for the constant hammering and whirring of cement mixers, I would hardly have believed I was on a building site at all. When I poked my head out the driver's side window all I could see was a clump of trees to my right stretching out behind the truck and cornfields to my left. We must've been right on the outskirts of Tulsa city limits or maybe even in one the hick towns that surrounded it. I really had no idea and I hoped Darry would be back soon to tell me. Plus I really had to pee and, while he hadn't exactly spelt it out for me, I knew I wasn't supposed to leave the truck without Darry's say so. It was basically like being grounded at home except there was even less to do. Maybe I could sneak a book with me tomorrow?

Even though I'd just woken up the heat and monotonous droning of drills was making me drowsy again, so I was pretty content to rest my head back down on my arms and wait for Darry to turn up. I tried to let my mind wander but it kept jumping back to whatever had happened with Sodapop last night. Darry's cryptic comments this morning hadn't eased my curiosity at all and I had genuinely no idea why Soda hated the High Rock so much. Jumping from it was just one of the things you did as an east-side Greaser, same as sneaking into the Nightly Double or lifting hubcaps and he sure as heck had no problem with either of those! There was a rumour going around one summer that a kid had broken his neck jumping but I remembered our Dad telling us he'd heard the exact same story when he was growing up so it's not like it could've been anyone Soda knew. Plus Soda had jumped himself - why would he do that if he thought it was so dangerous? Man, I really could not figure it out and I could usually read Soda like a newspaper.

I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't notice Darry approaching the truck and jumped a mile when he rapped his knuckles against the door.

"Dar!" I whined, scowling as he chuckled away to himself. "Not funny!"

"Cool your jets, kiddo, I'm only messing. Ol' Darry has to get his jollies somehow y'know!" He pulled open the driver's side door and leant over to rummage around behind the seat, eventually producing two brown bag lunches. "Come on, get your butt round back and you can eat lunch with your big brother. I might even share my potato chips with you."

I could hardly get out of the cab quick enough! Turns out I was starving with a capital S and it would be nice to get some fresh air too. Darry had grabbed the blanket off the windscreen and was laying it out on the tailgate as I scampered round to meet him, the grass tickling my bare feet. He turned to smile at me before sitting down, patting the spot next to him.

"Couldn't find your shoes this mornin', bub, but I guess it don't matter for today. You were wearin' them when you left last night, right?" I frowned at him because geez, Darry, I wasn't a complete idiot!

"Yeah, of course! But I think I might've left them in Dally's car so…" I trailed off, not at all sure where I stood with Dally right now. He was so mad yesterday for all I knew he could've thrown my tennis shoes straight off the Eleventh Street Bridge. Darry sighed.

"Yeah ok, we'll figure it out. Guess that's one way to stop you runnin' off again, huh?!" I could tell he was joking but it was still too soon for me.

"I ain't gonna run off again, Darry, I promise!" I told him earnestly, really wanting him to understand that I'd learnt my lesson good and proper. Darry stopped his joshin' and nodded seriously back at me.

"I know, kiddo, you're way too smart for that. Come on up here now, I made you pb&j!" I smiled and clambered up beside him, happy my brother believed me. I could feel the heat from the metal even through the blanket and I was able to sit down for maybe three seconds before jumping up with a yelp. Annoyingly I felt unexpected tears spring into my eyes, I just wanted to hang out and eat with my big brother but I couldn't even do that! Darry cringed in sympathy and quickly grabbed my wrist before I could jump down from the truck and stomp off in a sulk. "Ohh, sorry darlin', I forgot! You wanna lay down on your belly again?"

"No," I mumbled, already sick of that position from my time in the truck. "Can I eat standin' up, Darry? I know it ain't allowed but my butt really hurts and I wanna stay out here with you!" I knew I was pouting but Darry seemed in a good enough mood that I figured it was worth the risk.

"Alright, put that lip away," Darry grouched, referring to my habit of sticking out my bottom lip when I was sulking. "I'll let you just this once but you'll be sitting down to eat dinner tonight and I don't wanna hear any lip about it, understand?" I nodded quickly, taking a sandwich when he held it out to me. I could worry about dinner later.

Sitting down to eat was a rule leftover from my parents, who always insisted meals were eaten with everyone seated at the table. Even if we had snacks as little kids, mama would make us sit down to eat them, especially as Soda had the uncanny ability spill anything and everything he came into contact with. After the accident I thought Darry might get rid of the rule but he kept it strictly enforced, declaring that mealtimes were the only opportunity he had to get everyone in the same place and, with all the commitments to work and school and track and girls and trouble, I kind of got his point. Sometimes if felt like if it weren't for dinner every night, I'd hardly see my brothers at all!

Darry and I ate in companionable silence for a while. I felt touched that he'd even remembered to make up a lunch for me and almost cried for a second time when I realised he must've done it specially after I'd fallen asleep last night, despite being exhausted himself. It was weird being taller than him and even weirder to be standing up in the bed of the truck. I hadn't done that since I was a really little kid and my dad would use it as a make-shift playpen to keep me from wondering off and finding trouble at Darry's football games. Everyone who'd known me as a baby said I was the easiest child until I learnt to walk and then there was no stopping me. I guess it should've come as no surprise that track wound up being my sport!

Being up this high also meant I could see where we were a lot better. I'd been dumb earlier when I only looked right because left I could see the house Darry was workin' on with a bunch of guys in hard hats swarming all over it and a small prefab building with some cars parked in front that I guessed was his foreman's office. Seeing all the other vehicles parked together made me realise that Darry must've purposefully parked way over here by the trees which got me thinkin'.

"Hey Dar?" I asked after watching the site for a minute longer. He hummed around his mouthful so I carried on. "You tell anyone else I'm here?"

"Like who?" He responded once he'd swallowed. His gaze followed mine and he seemed to get it. "You mean the guys I work with?" I nodded and he continued. "Just the ones I buddy around with. And the boss of course."

I processed that information for a moment, a creeping realisation slowly dawning on me.

"Whaddya tell 'em?" I asked quietly, half not wanting to hear the answer.

"Oh you know, just that I couldn't get a sitter for the next couple of weeks so I'd be bringing my kid brother into work with me. But he has a bunch of summer homework he needs to get done and he knows better than to go wandering around a dangerous building site without supervision and he's gonna be so quiet you won't even notice he's here." He said all this completely nonchalantly but when I turned to stare at him, completely mortified, he was grinning real big so he definitely knew how embarrassing he'd been. "What? You'd rather me tell them the truth?"

He cocked one eyebrow and I huffed before turning back around, because annoyingly he was right, that would've been way worse. At least no one apart from Darry knew I'd gotten spanked and long may it stay that way!

"Guess not," I mumbled grudgingly, taking another bite of my sandwich even though I didn't feel all that hungry anymore.

"Hey now!" Darry called and I speedily wiped any kind of look off my face. "I realise we ain't discussed how this little arrangement is gonna work so let me lay things out for you real clear. You do not leave this truck unless I'm with you or, for some reason, one of the guys come to get you. I'm gonna be real nice and let you hang out back here in the bed but that ends the second I get word that you're wandering around gettin' in peoples' way and makin' a nuisance of yourself, you read me? If someone from the site comes over to say hi, and they might because I talk a lot about you and Soda and they're noisy SOBs, you'll be so polite they're gonna think you were raised on the west side, ok? And I mean it, kiddo, I got eyes all over this worksite and if that ain't enough I got a birds-eye view of the truck 8 hours a day so I'm gonna know if you don't follow the rules. And if that happens you better believe I'll have you bent over my knee with the whole world looking at your red ass quicker that you can say jiminy, you understand me?" I nodded quickly, sidling up to lean against his shoulder as just his tone of voice had given me butterflies. I'd heard enough of Darry's angry voice in the last twenty-four hours to last me a lifetime!

"Yessir," I replied quietly, understanding that the conversation had switched tone. Darry nodded.

"Good boy." He hooked his arm around my waist and squeezed me against him in a quick sideways hug before holding out a plastic baggy of chips. "Here, have a potato chip."

Darry only got thirty minutes for lunch so not long after he had to head back to work. Before he left he pointed to the woods behind us and said I could pee there if I needed, which I most definitely did. I came back to find him rearranging the blanket so it covered the whole of the truck bed and propping a canteen up in the far corner where it would be shaded. The trees provided a good deal of cover from the mid-day sun but it was speckled and he knew I couldn't stand drinking warm water!

"Try not to doze off again, buddy, else you'll never get to sleep tonight!" He advised, walking around to the side of the truck and reaching inside through the open window. "I bought your sketchbook by the way, just as a treat for today. Tonight I'll look out some of my old textbooks and you can get a head-start on some reading before school starts back up, but I was thinking today you might wanna draw a little something for Sodapop. You could give it to him tonight before you guys talk, hmm?"

I thought that sounded like a mighty fine idea and climbed back into the truck bed, not even attempting to sit on my butt this time around, just laying straight down on my belly instead. I figured I'd be spending a lot of time in that position for at least the next few days so I might as well get used to it. Darry handed me my sketchbook and some pencils he must've grabbed from my room, then ruffled my hair and told me to behave myself before heading back.

I was still nervous about my impending chat with Soda but it felt nice to be drawing something for him. I wanted to include all his favourite things which I figured were me and Darry, horses, cars and girls. I guess chocolate too but I couldn't figure out how to incorporate that into my picture and I'd never been good at drawing girls so in the end I settled on Soda visiting his horse in a real tuff car with me and Darry waving to him from outside the paddock.

I spent a lot of time deciding what model of car to choose because Soda's favourite seemed to change every five minutes. I wasn't really that into cars myself but whenever Soda was able to sneak home a back issue of Hot Rod from the DX, he'd make me sit beside him on the couch and flip through it cover to cover. He'd hardly read any of the articles but would point out and explain each type of car and what made one better than the other, so you'd better believe I knew all their names.

Steve once asked if me and him did the same thing with Playboy and Soda threw his shoe at him, even though he was just being his typical annoying self. I think Soda felt like cars were one of the only things he could teach me about (since I wasn't really into girls yet) so he approached it with the same level of seriousness Darry did when he was explaining me algebra. Honestly I was just happy to spend time snuggled against my brother and he could've been listing off football stats for all I cared but I guess it did make me look kinda cool when I could talk about cars at school and such. In the end I decided on a Plymouth as it had the cool fins on the back so he'd definitely recognise what it was.

I wanted this picture to be my best one ever because, even though I was still a tiny bit annoyed with him, I really wanted us to make up. Obviously I knew it would take more than a drawing to make things right between us but maybe it would help start things off on the right foot? Right now, I'd take any help I could get!

* * *

_Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, I did something weird to my shoulder and wasn't able to run, which is when I do all my chapter planning! Thanks for all the reviews and suggestions, I'm sad to say that I don't feel quite ready to write a Dally and Johnny fic yet but if anyone else would like to use the scenario set up in earlier chapters please feel free! Darry's awesome in this chapter and Pony's kind of a brat but I figure he's a young teenager, what are you gonna do? Anyway I hope you enjoyed and as always thanks for reading!_


	10. Chapter 10

Since he'd taken the early shift today, Darry finished around 4pm. He smiled at me as he approached the truck, signalling for me to go sit in the front. I wouldn't have minded staying in the back but he was funny about letting me ride in the bed by myself and I figured, given my recent behaviour, now probably wasn't the time to fight that battle. Maybe next summer! I'd spent the afternoon working on my drawing for Soda and lounging in the truck bed, it made me feel bad to see him so sweaty and worn out after a day of hard work. I decided tomorrow I'd draw Darry a picture and give it to him as a surprise.

"How was work?" I asked as he climbed in beside me, wriggling around to try and find a seated position that didn't hurt my behind. Fat chance!

"Long and hot," he replied, reaching out to ruffle my hair before taking a long drink from his canteen. "But we're making good progress so the boss is happy. I reckon we'll be finished up ahead of schedule so I might even get to spend Labor Day with you guys this year!" This was huge news indeed and I sent a little prayer up to God that it would happen. Last year Darry had had to work and Soda'd nearly burnt the porch down trying to barbecue some burgers. It was the first one without our parents so we were all out of sorts anyway but it would've been easier to manage if we'd been together. "You ready to hit the road, kiddo?"

"Yeh, let's go," I agreed, ready to feel some wind in my hair. I'd been ok in the shade but the air was still muggy and I could feel my shirt sticking to my back. I reached out towards the radio, waiting for Darry's nod of approval before I turned the knob. I figured he's be ok with having some music on but I exactly wasn't sure how grounded I was. I guess I'd find out for sure when I tried to watch tv tonight. It had been a while since Soda had used the truck so luckily the volume wasn't turned way up. The Four Tops were croonin' away about their Sugar Pie Honey Bunch and, despite the lingering soreness in my butt, I felt real happy to be sittin' next to my big brother as the wheat fields rushed by.

Darry and I didn't talk much on the ride back to Tulsa, just enjoying the music and each other's company. We had just crossed over the rail-road tracks onto our side of town and were cruising past the lot when I caught sight of a familiar flash of dark hair and denim jacket.

"Stop, Dar!" I yelled, probably a bit too loudly as he immediately slammed on the breaks, throwing his arm across my chest as if bracing for a crash. We screeched to a stop, the momentum pulling us both forward in our seats. Luckily there wasn't anyone behind us.

"Jesus, Ponyboy, don't do that! What the heck is wrong with you?!" After quickly checking his mirrors Darry turned his furious gaze on me and I wilted under it. Why was I always messing things up? I really didn't mean to!

"Sorry," I mumbled, tucking my chin into my chest so I could avoid looking at him. "I saw Johnny in the lot and I didn't think before I shouted. Sorry, Darry."

We sat in silence for a good minute before I had enough courage to raise my head and meet his eye. When I finally did he wasn't as mad as I'd been expecting, but he was shaking his head.

"I swear to god, kid, I'm gonna find a way to get you usin' that head of your even if it kills me!" I shrugged, not sure how else to respond. In all fairness he did say this to me a lot and common sense was not one of my strongest suits so I could understand his frustration. But it wasn't like I did it on purpose! Darry sighed before peering over my shoulder to look out of the window. "You wanna go talk to Johnny?" I nodded emphatically, pleased he wasn't gonna lecture me more about my lack of judgement. He thought on it for a minute before angling the truck closer to the curb and cutting the engine. "Alright, you can have five minutes."

I had thrown open the door and jumped out before he'd finished speaking. Johnny was sat on the ground, leaning back against the big tree we always use as a meeting place. He saw me running towards him and raised his hand in greeting, carefully getting to his feet and brushing dirt from his pants.

"Watch where you're stepping, Ponyboy! There might be broken glass layin' around!" Darry hollered out the window after me.

"Okay, Dar!" I called back over my shoulder, skidding to a stop just in time to avoid slamming into Johnny. He'd thrown his arms out to catch me just in case and had a look of alarm on his face, but it was quickly replaced by a grin that I returned. "Hi, Johnny!"

"Hey, Pone," he replied, ducking his head embarrassedly after a few seconds. Johnny still found it tough to maintain direct eye contact sometimes, even with me. "Gee, your feet sure are gonna get dirty. I'm surprised Darry's lettin' you run around the neighbourhood like that, I thought you'd be grounded for sure!"

"Oh I am, he's makin' me go to work with him everyday, probably until school starts. He says he don't trust me to stay in the house by myself after what happened," I explained, swinging my arms around to get the blood flowing after a day of sitting still. "Talking of last night, I'm real sorry, Johnny! Truly! I didn't mean for you to get in trouble and it was wrong of me to get you involved in the first place. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, Ponyboy, I ain't mad about it at all! I was more worried about leavin' you to face Darry on your lonesome, but Dal wasn't having any of it. He took me back to Buck's place and made me spend the night there. I called this morning but Two-Bit said y'all weren't home, I was startin' to think your brothers had skinned ya alive or somethin'!"

"Nah, but glory were they mad! I don't think I've ever seen Soda so pissed. We gotta have another talk tonight so we can sort things out. It was pretty bad, Johnny."

"A talk or a _talk_?" He asked, emphasising the second word so I understood clearly what he was asking. To be honest I hadn't even considered the possibility that Soda might wanna spank me again, although I guess bedtime spankings were technically part of my continuing punishment.

"Golly I hope not, I reckon I already lost a layer of skin last night!" I deliberately kept my tone light, not wanting Johnny to be stressing about me. He had enough of his own worries to be going on with. I quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on what might be waiting for me at home. "Was Dally real mad, Johnny?"

"Not really, he'd calmed down a lot by the time we got to Buck's. Besides him and Sylvia are always steppin' out on each other anyway so it's not like he ain't used to it. Honestly Pone, I think he was mostly pissed that it scared him so much when you jumped. He really didn't know about the High Rock."

I scoffed, shaking my head in disbelief. "Dallas Winston ain't scared of nothin', Johnny, you know that!" Johnny shrugged, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jean jacket.

"If you say so, but I'm tellin' you, he was real out of sorts until I explained how everyone around here does it and it ain't even a big deal." I often forgot that Dally didn't grow up in Tulsa, he was such an ingrained member of our gang that it felt to me like he'd just always been there. But I guess it made sense that he wouldn't be as well versed in East-side lore as everyone else was.

"Ya think you can come over and do the same thing for Soda? He's got a bug in his ear about the High Rock and I swear the more I tell him it ain't somethin' to go gettin' worked up about, the more upset he gets!" Johnny shook his head, laughing a little.

"I can't hardly imagine Sodapop gettin' upset about anything, let alone you jumpin' off some dumb rock. He's usually all in for that kinda stuff!" I was about to voice my agreement, no one got a bigger kick out of crazy, blood-pumping, heart-racing living than my brother, but a short blast of the truck's horn cut me off. Guess my time was up.

"Shoot, I gotta run before Dar gets heated. Hey, you remember what happened to my sneakers last night? I think I might've left 'em in Dally's car?" I had to raise my voice as I was already backing away from him, walking backwards towards the truck so Darry would know I'd heard him. He did not like to be left waiting and I knew from experience he wasn't above leaning on the horn to get me to hustle.

"Yeah, he said he was gonna drop 'em off at your place this afternoon, your cut-offs too!" Johnny called and I waved at him to show I'd heard. I was about half way to the truck by now.

"Ok, thanks Johnnycakes! I probably ain't gonna be around much for the next couple of weeks but we'll figure somethin' out!" Johnny waved back, grinning as I turned to jog the rest of the way to Darry. This was hardly my first time being grounded and we'd always managed to devise sneaky ways to keep in touch with each other in the past. There was nothin' the two of us enjoyed more than inventing ingenious schemes to pull the wool over everyone's eyes! They might be bigger than us, but we were smarter!

Darry signalled for me to get a move on as I opened the door and boosted myself up. "Remind me to get you a watch," he grouched, frowning at me. "I swear you'd be late for your own funeral. Hey, John! Come over here a second!"

It was my turn to frown now because you can bet your bottom dollar if I'd hollered out the window like that he would've had something to say about it! Johnny looked up, startled, then made his way over to us at a good clip. He was lookin' pretty anxious and I really hoped Darry wasn't gonna yell at him. He hardly ever got mad at Johnny but that didn't seem to calm Johnny's nerves none. He was cautious around my big brother at the best of times, even more so after Darry busted Steve's jaw that time.

"Yeah, Darry?" Johnny asked, his eyes not quite meeting my brother's. I too turned to look at Darry, hoping he'd be able to tell from my face that now was not the time for him to chew Johnny out. He didn't look mad, but sometimes it was hard to tell with him.

"I just wanted to let you know that you're welcome round our place any time you need, ok? It don't matter if Pony's in trouble or I ain't best pleased with somethin' y'all have gotten into, you're welcome, period." Johnny looks as embarrassed as he always does whenever anyone offers him something without expecting anything in return, but Darry and him have had this conversation a hundred times before so nods because he knows Dar won't accept any other answer. "And I ain't mad at you about y'all's little adventure out to Sullivan's Pond last night. I got it on good authority that it weren't your idea and I know how persuasive this little monster can be when he gets a bone between his teeth. So there's no hard feelin's, ok? You're a good friend to Ponyboy and he's lucky to have a buddy like you to pal around with, but I'm gonna ask you to do me a favour and keep it within city limits next time, huh?"

Johnny was smiling now, still looking down at his shoes, but smiling all the same. "Sure thing, Darry, I hear ya loud and clear. See ya around, Pone!"

Darry nodded at him a final time before flicking the turn signal and pulling back out into the street. I waved at him through the window, only stopping when he'd turned away to walk back across the lot.

"I'm not a little monster!" I grumbled indignantly after a moment, suddenly remembering Darry's words to Johnny. My brother chuckled.

"Believe me, bub, you have your moments!" We were turning into our street now and he raised a hand in greeting to Old Man Connors who was sitting out on his porch in his stained undershirt just like always. He turned to glance at me as our house came into view. "You ready to face the music, kiddo?"

Honestly I wasn't so sure but I knew I didn't have a choice. The world just didn't feel right with Soda mad at me.


	11. Chapter 11 Part 1

"There's my little daredevil!" Two-Bit hollered the second Darry pushed open the front door. He rushed forward, scooping me up in his arms and spinning round and round in circles. I was holding Soda's picture in one hand and my tennis shoes in the other, both of which went flying. Dally had dumped my sneakers on the porch like Johnny said, my shorts were nowhere to be seen though. I figured he might've kept hold of it so Johnny would have something clean to change into at Buck's. I was fine with that as I had plenty of Soda's old stuff anyway. "Ponykid is finally starting to live up to his potential and give ol' Two-Bit some jollies!"

"If he throws up, Keith, you'll be the one clearin' it up," Darry griped, shouldering past us to get to the kitchen so he could wash up. I'd have preferred it if he'd have told him to put me down, but there was no stopping Two-Bit once he got going.

Once he finally stopped twirling us, I was able to see that Soda and Steve were both sat on the couch. Soda was messin' around with his lighter, flicking it on and off and purposefully ignoring the hubbub Two-Bit was making. Steve just looked annoyed by the whole thing, he was probably hoping Darry would send me straight to my room and keep me there for the rest of the night. He rolled his eyes when he caught me looking at him.

"Don't encourage him, Two-Bit. Last thing we need is the kid turnin' into some little JD and causin' us even more problems!" I wanted to defend myself but he kept talking before I got the chance. "Darry beat your butt good, kid? I bet you ain't gonna be causin' no more trouble for a while, huh?"

I could tell by the nasty smirk he was giving me that Soda already had told him all about last night so he was just bringing it up to rile me. I scowled right back at him, determined not to rise to the bait and have Soda be even more upset with me. He really didn't like it when Steve and I got into it with each other.

"That true, Ponykid? You got a sore butt today?" Two-Bit asked, still holding me tight. I squirmed against him, really not wanting to have this conversation. Everyone in the gang knew I got spanked when I messed up and mostly they were pretty good about it but sometimes they did tease me. Most of the time Darry or Soda shut them down before it got too bad and since I was the youngest I was pretty used to being the fall guy anyway, but tonight I was already feeling edgy about my talk with Soda and not at all in the mood to mess around.

"Stop, Two-Bit," I moaned, feeling his hand moving towards the back of my shorts. I didn't realise what he was planning until it was too late. With one fell swoop he'd tugged my waistband down, exposing my bottom to the room. I gasped and threw my hand back to cover myself, his laughter ringing in my ears.

"Kid ain't got no underwear on!" He howled, turning slightly so Steve and Soda could have an even better view of my behind. "Look, bare little bum! Geez Dar, you really let him have it, huh? His butt is red enough to stop traffic!"

"Hey!" I yelped, scrabbling at the back of my shorts to try and pull them back up. Both Soda and Steve were staring at us and I could feel the blush spreading across my face.

"Two-Bit will you leave him alone and mind your own damn business?!" Like I'd conjured him, Darry was suddenly leaning in the doorway to the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel. "I'm gonna need you guys to beat it anyway, we gotta have a family meetin' and that don't include you two knuckleheads. Dinner will be on the table at 7 if you wanna eat but I need y'all to stay gone until then, savvy?"

"Family meetin'? Ain't we family, Darrel?!" Two-Bit wailed theatrically, hamming it up like always. The distraction allowed me to quickly fix my clothes while sticking my pinky finger in my mouth to get it good and slobbery before I shoved it into his ear. Two-Bit hated wet willies more than anything in the world and he screeched like a banshee, immediately letting go of me so I fell to the floor. Luckily I was prepared and landed on my feet. "Eugh, gross! I take it all back, kid, you're the worst! The worst I tell ya! Darry is this how you're raising him? He's a hoodlum!"

Darry just rolled his eyes, gesturing for me to move away from Two-Bit and come stand by him. When I was close enough he reached behind me and began straightening the back of my shorts where the waistband had gotten twisted.

"Come on, idiot," Steve groused, pushing himself up from the couch and snagging Two-Bit's arm as he passed. "Darry and Soda are gonna deal with the brat and I ain't itchin' to listen to his caterwauling. Unless we find some action we'll be back for dinner, Superman. Later, Soda!"

I could still hear Two-Bit railing against me as Steve dragged him out the door. It was weirdly quiet after they'd left and I suddenly realised Soda hadn't said a single word since we'd arrived. It made me nervous as he_ always_ had something to say. Eventually Darry sighed, resting his hand on back of my neck to catch my attention.

"Why don't you fetch your picture and show it to Soda, buddy? I'm gonna grab a quick shower then make a start on dinner so you guys can talk, but you can just holler if you need me, ok?" I looked up at him and nodded, smiling to show I was ok with his plan. He rubbed my hair before turning his head to the couch. "Soda? That ok with you?"

"Sure, Dar," he agreed, but his voice sounded flat. He hadn't looked at me since Two-Bit's stupid stunt and I was starting to feel unsettled. Darry nodded and gave me a little nudge towards where my picture had fallen.

"Good. Go on then, babe, you can tell Soda all about what you've drawn." I did as directed, pleased that Darry had stuck around long enough to get things started and ease some of the awkwardness. I picked up my drawing and walked back over to the couch, hesitating for a second before climbing up to sit on my knees next to my brother. I held out the paper for him to look at.

"It's all your favourite things, Soda. There's me and Darry and your horse and I didn't know what car you like best so I gave you a Plymouth but I can change it if you want?" I realised I was babbling and promptly shut my mouth. Soda was examining the picture closely, holding one side of it while I held the other. His silence was making me anxious and almost without realising it my other hand came up to my mouth and I started chewing at the skin around my thumb. It was a habit I'd had since I was a little kid and, although my brothers both hated it, I couldn't seem to stop. After a few long moments he still hadn't said anything and I couldn't stand it any more. "You like it, Soda?"

He looked up at me and gave me one of those smiles where his eyes crinkle at the corners, so I knew he wasn't just humouring me. "I love it, Ponyboy. I don't wanna change a thing, you even made the horse look like Mickey Mouse with his mane all long like that. I don't know how you can even remember, you were just an itty bitty thing back then!" I shrugged, not wanting Soda to know I remembered so much about his childhood horse because it was the first time I'd ever seen him truly upset and our parents couldn't fix it. "I'm gonna take this with me to work tomorrow and hang it up in my locker, that way I can look at it when I'm gettin' ready for my shift and be reminded of all my best things. That sound good?"

"Yeah," I agreed, blushing slightly at his praise. I loved it when my brothers were proud of me. Despite getting the approval I had been hoping for, I still felt uneasy about our upcoming conversation. My thumb stayed in my mouth as I watched Soda closely, wondering what his next move would be. He watched me back, frowning when he realised that I was pulling at the skin.

"Hey now, none of that," he chided softly, reaching out to pull my hand away. "You scared?" I hesitated for a second before nodding my head. He stayed holding my wrist, looking at me intensely. "Of me?" He clarified, his voice hitching just slightly.

"No, not you Soda, I promise!" I quickly threw my arms around his neck, falling forward off my knees to lean heavily against him. I never ever wanted my brother to think I was afraid of him, he was my favourite person in the whole world! He leant forward quickly to put my drawing on the coffee table before wrapping his right arm around my waist. "It's just…just…the whole situation I guess. I know you're upset with me and I swear I'm gonna listen to you from now on but I still don't really understand. Everyone jumps from the High Rock so why wouldn't you let me? I've been thinkin' about it all day and I'm scared there's some huge secret that I don't know about!"

I took a big breath, not really expecting to have blurted everything out like that. Soda always had that effect on me, whenever Darry wanted to know why I was in a mood he'd send Soda in and I'd be spilling my guts in no time. Soda swallowed hard, his adam's apple moving under my arm.

"I'm sorry, Ponyboy. I wish…I wish I would've handled this whole thing differently. It hadn't even crossed my mind that you might wanna jump so when I saw other kids your age doin' it I just kind of panicked. I way over-reacted though, pullin' you to the side and gettin' in your face about it like I did. That ain't my style and I know it don't work with you at all; you were right to get mad about it. I just couldn't bare to see you fallin' from that rock, honey. Can you understand that?"

"But I weren't fallin' Soda, I was jumpin'. They ain't the same thing. And you've done it! You must remember how it feels! It was like flyin', Soda!"

"Oh kiddo, you have no idea. I ain't never jumped, babe. I tried but god help me I couldn't make myself do it. Steve covered my ass and told anyone that would listen that I'd already done it the summer before. I think a few people were ready to call me on it but then Two-Bit did his famous belly-flop and suddenly that was all anyone was talkin' about so I was able to get away with it."

"So…you never jumped?" I whispered incredulously. My brother was basically the coolest person I knew, how could he not have done it? _Everyone _does it! "But why? I mean I know you'd don't really like water all that much but it comes up so quick you don't even have time to think about it!" Soda's dislike of getting his head wet was the only reason I could think of for him to have chickened out. To my surprise he laughed.

"You give me too much credit, Pone. I was scared shitless up on that ledge, so bad I froze like a statue and couldn't even move back from the edge. Steve had to get Darry to come and talk me down and even then it took forever."

He'd opened his mouth to keep talking, but I cut him off. "Wait, Darry knows you've never jumped?!" I could not believe this! Why was I always the last to know anything around here?!

"Of course he knew, and he knew why as well. I'm gonna explain it to you now, kiddo, which is what I shoulda done in the first place but I ain't a fan of talkin' about it and to be frank I'd rather you never had to know, but here we are. You comfortable sittin' like that or you wanna snuggle in?"

"Snuggle in," I replied, dropping my arms from his neck so I could tuck myself under his arm instead. I was probably getting a little big for this position, I had to hunch my shoulders a lot more than I used to in order to fit, but it was my favourite so I wasn't gonna give it up until I absolutely had to. Leaning against Soda's side also meant I could rest most of my weight of the side of my butt and hip, which was a lot less painful than if I'd been sitting normally. Soda waited while I got myself settled, dropping his arm across my shoulder once I was ready. He took a deep breath, like he was bracing himself, then finally began to talk.

"Do you remember when we were little kids and we'd play out all the time in the summer? Darry would run off with his friends to play football but Mama didn't want you leavin' the front yard so I'd stay you and we'd make up games together?" I nodded against him, almost bringing my thumb back up to my mouth but catching myself just in time and reaching out to play with the hem of his shirt instead. I'd loved those long days with Soda, he never told me I was too young to do something or made me feel like a baby. "Well one time I'd been for a sleepover at Two-Bit's house, his dad was still around back then so that's how long ago it was, and we'd watched Superman on their television. I'd never seen it before since Dad had pawned our tv to get Darry's teeth fixed after he fell out of Jimmy Ferguson's elm tree and he hadn't been able to buy it back yet."

I nodded again, well versed in that particular story. It happened when I was about two and Daddy always said not bein' able to watch tv when I was little is why I learned to read so good.

"Right so imagine it, Pone. There I am, just hangin' out at Two-Bit's with his mom bringing us snacks and the like, when suddenly I see a man go flying across the tv screen. I could hardly believe my eyes! It was like the most amazing thing I had ever seen! And he didn't just do it once, he did it over and over so he could save all these dumb people who'd somehow gotten caught up the bad guy's scheme. But when he weren't doin' all that, he was just a regular guy. And I got to thinkin' what if we all have superpowers but we just don't know it 'cause we never try and use them.

I just couldn't get that idea out my head, Ponyboy, so I spent the next week runnin' around tryin' to find ways to test if I had any superpowers in me. Of course I weren't very successful and eventually Darry figured out what I was playin' at and set me straight about how they fix all that stuff up in Hollywood so it looks real but it's just pieces of wire and shit. But by this point, Pone, I'd gotten you involved and you were so into it I couldn't bare to tell you the truth so I started playin' along, like I'd pretend something was too heavy for me to lift then get you to do it so you'd think you had super strength. Mama and Daddy thought it was the cutest thing ever when you'd come rushin' in for dinner and tell 'em all about how you'd discovered some new superpower that day!"

I could feel my face starting to get hot like it always did when my brothers or the gang bought up something from my childhood. I really was the weirdest little kid. Darry says I refused to wear clothes until I was about four and even after that only pyjamas. Soda was smiling fondly at the memory but his face turned serious as he continued his story.

"Then one day we were out in the yard and I realised I'd been a dum-dum and forgotten about Superman's coolest superpower. He could fly! Of course you were on board right away, Pone, but I think if I'd told you to follow me across hot coals you woulda done it! I don't even know where I found the ladder but I somehow managed to get it propped up against the side of the house and you climbed right on up there after me just like I knew you would." He paused, using the hand that wasn't holding me to lift his DX hat up and wipe at his forehead. I could feel the emotions rolling off him so I squeezed him extra tight, hoping it would help. He looked down at me and attempted a grin but his eyes were pained. "I really don't know what the plan was. I've thought about it over and over since, like what motivated me to take you up there in the first place, but I guess little kids sometimes just do things.

Either way I knew it was a bad idea the second we climbed onto the roof. It was real high, way higher than it had looked from the ground. I wanted to get down straight away but I turned my head for just a second and you were off, skittering across the tiles like some kinda monkey. You kept looking over your shoulder and grinning at me like this was the best thing ever and I knew you honestly thought you were gonna fly. You weren't even the slightest bit afraid. I could see you backing away from the edge a little but I didn't cotton on to what you were doin' until it was too late. I made a grab for you but you've always been a fast little son of a gun and right before my eyes you went hurtling off the side of the house, doin' the Superman pose just how I'd shown you."

* * *

_TBC in Part 2!_


	12. Chapter 11 Part 2

"For a few seconds I honestly thought you were dead, Pone, and it woulda been all my fault. It was only when I heard Daddy yell that I remembered to breath again. He'd climbed up on the porch rail to see what was causin' all the rukus on the roof and by some goddamn miracle he'd managed to grab ahold of your ankle. I remember him lookin' down at you, then up at me, like he couldn't believe what he was seein' and then next thing I know I'm bustin' out crying and I swear I don't stop until bedtime. Mama and Daddy are so worried about me they don't even remember to be mad and they keep tellin' me over and over that you're ok, that nothin' bad happened but I ain't havin' none of it. They finally decide to bring you to my room so I can see for myself and you don't even mention it, you just wanna play Cowboys and Indians again like we'd been doin' everyday before I got on my stupid Superman kick.

But I just couldn't make myself forget about it, Ponyboy. The image of you disappearing over the side and into nothingness seemed to have burned itself into my brain. I had nightmares about it for weeks afterwards and the one time Darry dared tease me about how I'd nearly killed you I went so ballistic Mama forbade anyone from mentioning it again. But then you know, school starts up again and other things happen and you don't seem any the worse for wear for it and I stop having the dreams but one time Mark Jennings dares me to climb up that big ol' water tower down by the railtracks and I get about five feet off the ground before the world starts tilting and next thing I know I'm sittin' on my butt in the dirt. Another time Two-Bit gets you on his back and starts scaling the fence down at Hubbard's Farm because he's got it in his head that you're the only one fast enough to catch one of them ornery chickens they keep and as soon as your feet leave the ground I'm grabbing you offa him and shovin' him away and I drag you all the way back home cryin' because you didn't get to pet the chicken. Those are just the ones I remember best, I know there were other times where I flipped out at the idea of either of us bein' up high.

So, what I'm tryna tell ya, kid, is that when I thought of you up on the High Rock, it was like another one of them episodes. And when I found out you'd gone and done it behind my back, without anyone there to help you if somethin' had happened, I just couldn't handle it, Pone. And I didn't wanna tell you about the roof incident because, I dunno, you have enough bad dreams already without me reminding you about the time I nearly killed you. I thought if I could just make you see how serious I was, you'd do as I said. But I took it too far, especially yesterday when I was wailin' on you. I was wanting you to apologise for making me feel that same type of useless I'd felt that day on the roof which was completely unfair.

So that's the story, honey. Now you know what a dolt of a brother you've got, thank goodness Darry's the oldest else we'd really be in trouble, eh?" He was trying to joke but I could see in his eyes that he really believed what he was saying. The thought made me sick to my stomach.

"You're not a dolt, Soda! You're the best brother ever! And it weren't your fault what happened, we got into scrapes all the time when he were little, this one ain't even that bad in the grand scheme of things! Plus is sounds like you've suffered way more from it than I ever have. I do remember climbing up on the roof so we could learn how to fly, but it's a happy memory for me, Soda. I just remember Daddy holding me real tight and then Darry sayin' we weren't allowed to play Superman no more because it was his new nickname so he had dibs. I just wish you'd told me all this before then maybe things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand!"

"Would you still have jumped?" He asked after a long moment, not quite meeting my eye. I thought about lying, but I figured since we were having a heart to heart I might as well go all in.

"Yeah, I think so. I get that you're scared for me and don't want me to do anything dangerous but sometimes I need to make my own decisions about stuff. I really am sorry for disobeying you and sneakin' behind your back but I still ain't sorry for jumping and I'm probably gonna do it again if Darry ever let's me outta his sight. It's really fun, Soda! A little scary but in a good way, like a drag race or right before a rumble!" He didn't respond for a long time and I was starting to get worried that I'd upset him again

"Well I still ain't a fan but I hear what you're sayin', buddy. It's hard sometimes for Darry and I to remember that you ain't such a little kid any more and that sometimes you're gonna want to try things out that we'd rather you didn't. But that's how you learn I guess, so we're just gonna have to suck it up! As long as you don't go robbin' any banks or nothin'!"

I sniggered into him, pleased at his concession. I understood why my brothers were strict with me, but sometimes they could take things a bit far! Soda gave me a playful squeeze and we sat quietly together for a while, just enjoying each other. As far as I was concerned we'd covered everything we needed to, but eventually Soda cleared his throat.

"I really am sorry about last night, Ponyboy. When Darry and I talked about how we were gonna bring you up after mom and dad…you know, we both swore we'd never ever hit you just because we were angry and I think last night I might've broken that promise."

I wasn't sure what to say to that. Of course I hated the idea of either of my brothers being so furious with me the only way they could express it was by hitting, that's what Steve's Dad did and he was unanimously hated by all of us (don't even get me started on Johnny's parents), but I didn't think that's what had happened last night. But it had kind of felt like things were spiralling out of control a little bit towards the end and I'd been more than glad when Darry had stepped in and gotten me off of Soda's lap. But then again wasn't I always grateful when a spanking ended? It was all very confusing!

And then, as if I'd summoned him with my mind, Darry emerged from his bedroom and came over to us. He leant his hands on the back of the couch so Soda and I had to tip our heads back to see him. His hair was still wet from his shower and little droplets fell onto his collar, but it was still so hot he probably didn't care. He gave us a wry grin.

"Totally wasn't listening in on your guys," (liar, he definitely was) "but I just thought I should jump in here to make sure we're all on the same page. Pony, do you understand what Soda's just said?" I shook my head. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He sighed before walking round to the front of the couch. "Budge over," he directed, nudging at my legs with his knee. I wriggled closer to Sodapop which, since I'd already been pressed right up against him, meant I was now practically sitting on him.

"Geez, what've you gotta do to have a private conversation round here, eh Pone?" Soda griped, winking at me as Darry dropped down to sit on my other side, placing a heavy hand on my knee. "Never mind some personal space!"

"Zip it, wisey. Ok, kiddo, here's what Soda is tryna say. When we spank your butt, we ain't doin' it for us, we're doin' it for you. It probably don't seem like it when you're the one gettin' tanned but truly, it's as crappy for us as it is for you."

"We hate doin' it, Pone, for real," Soda chimed in, cutting Darry off. "Makin' you cry is the worst, I swear to god."

"Right but we gotta do it because we owe it to mom and dad to bring you up good and we knew that's what we signed up for when I took over guardianship of y'all. So Soda and I had a long talk not long after the funeral about how we were gonna do this and make things as close to normal for you as possible. Like we'd try and keep our routines the same and have dinner together and share the chores and you'd still get your allowance, that kind of stuff. And we also agreed that when it came to discipline, it was gonna be all about you. The whole point of givin' you consequences is that you learn somethin' from them and hopefully you'll turn out to be a better person because of them."

"Which you are, by the way!" Soda butted in again, pointedly ignoring Darry's long-suffering sigh. "You're the kindest, smartest, best kid in the entire world!"

"The point is," Darry continued loudly, shooting Soda a pointed look. "Our feelings and emotions shouldn't have anything to do with how we punish you. Like if one day I come home from work and you've bought a note home from school sayin' you skipped class." I felt the blood drain from my face just imagining that scenario and Soda must've noticed because he let out a short laugh and pulled my head up to kiss it. "Now I know that ain't ever ever gonna happen, but just say one day it does. Am I gonna beat your butt twice as hard because I'm pissed about something that happened at work that day? No, I sure as heck ain't, because that ain't nothin' to do with you and it wouldn't be fair. Or, here's another example, say Soda was playin' poker with the guys and he got busted cheatin' and lost a whole bunch of money. Then you knock over a lamp because you're wrestling with Johnny even though you know you ain't supposed to do that indoors. Would it be fair for Soda to yank your pants down and give you what for because he's mad he just blew his paycheque? No siree bob! But he'd be well within his rights to smack your behind and stick your nose in a corner until you're ready to start actin' right, so long as he leaves his own dumb decisions out of it. Do you get what I'm sayin', kiddo?"

I nodded slowly, taking my time to process exactly what my brother had said. It reminded me of a time I was at Johnny's house and his Daddy came in and for no reason whatsoever backhanded Johnny across the face. We'd high-tailed it to the lot as soon as his back was turned but I was so furious on Johnny's behalf I had half a mind to go back there and give his old man what for. But to Johnny it was completely normal. If we was there, he was hit, regardless of what he did or didn't do. And that was the difference between my brothers and the majority of grown-ups on the East side.

"Yeah, I think I get it," I said eventually, turning to look at Darry. "Soda feels bad because he thinks he spanked me yesterday because of what happened on the roof instead of for breakin' the rules and not listening to him."

Darry nodded his head and when I looked back at Soda, he was beaming at me. "See, I told ya you're the smartest! You said it better than I coulda done myself!"

I smiled back but only a little because I needed him to know what I said next was serious. "But that ain't true, Soda! You spanked me because I disobeyed you, same as Darry spanked me for sneaking out. I deserved it and it was right that it came from you. You didn't hit me 'cause you were mad or if you did it's because I gave you reason to be mad!"

"Calm down, Ponyboy," Darry warned and I took a quivering breath, realising my voice had increased in volume. "Soda, he's fine. You didn't hurt him and he ain't afraid of you or any of the other crazy scenarios that have been running through that head of yours. You're human, little buddy, and still a teenager at that so cut yourself a bit of slack, huh? I think we're all ready to move on and put everything that happened behind us, so can we all agree?"

"Agreed," I said immediately, hugging Soda even tighter than before. He stayed stiff for a minute before finally letting out a long breath and gripping me back just as tight .

"Agreed," he echoed and out the corer of my eye I saw Darry reach out and ruffle his hair, laughing when Soda batted his hand away. Rolling his shoulder back and clapping his hands together, my big brother stood up.

"Right, now that's outta the way, let's get this show on the road. Pone I want you in the shower asap, I love you to death kid but my god you smell like pond weed. I'm gonna get dinner started but we need rolls, so I'ma need you to run to the store for me, Soda. If you see Johnny in the lot, drag him home with you and I guess Steve and Two-Bit too, although I'm less bothered about them since they're eating me out of house and home on the daily anyway." He'd started to walk away from us despite still issuing orders and I could've quite happily stayed resting against Soda for the remainder of the evening, but I knew when Darry clapped his hands he meant business so with a groan I reluctantly pushed myself up.

Soda stretched himself out like a cat once I'd freed him, watching me as I looked around the room, trying to remember what things I needed to take a shower. I might be the smartest kid ever but my brain sure took a lot of vacation days.

"Sorry if Two-Bit embarrassed you before, kiddo. You know he don't mean nothin' by it." Soda was standing up himself now, feeling around in his pockets for change. I waved his apology away, remembering that I'd need a towel for my shower.

"It's ok, I'm used to it. I'll get him back next time he's hungover," I replied easily, already looking forward to concocting a plan. Soda laughed as I moved towards the bathroom, collecting a towel from the linen closet on my way.

"I bet you will, buddy boy, I'm lookin' forward to it!" He called, the rattle of coins telling me he'd been successful in his search. "I'm headin' out, Dar! Just rolls, right? No lobster? No fancy cheese? No Cheetos?"

"Just the rolls, Soda!" Darry shouted back from the kitchen. I could hear the eyeroll in his voice, which made me laugh ever harder than Soda's bizarre list of ingredients had. He must've heard because his next line was directed at me. "I don't hear that water runnin', Ponyboy!"

"I'm going, Darry!" I called, just as Soda said, "Ok Dar, if you say so. Maybe next time, eh? It's about time we started livin' a little!"

The screen door slammed behind him and I slipped into the bathroom, still chuckling to myself. My brother Soda was the greatest and I was so lucky he was mine.

* * *

_Phew, Pony and Soda have made up! There's still the little matter of Pony's bedtime spanking to address, then he has one more plan up his sleeve before this story is done. Thanks for sticking with me!_


	13. Chapter 12

Someone, I'm assuming Darry, had placed a pair of my pyjamas on the toilet seat while I was in the shower so I dutifully put them on once I'd dried off. I wasn't thrilled about being dressed in night clothes at 6:30 in the evening but I knew when to pick my battles. Darry might've said we were all ready to move on from yesterday's events but I'm pretty sure his feelings didn't extend to my punishment.

He was staring morosely into the refrigerator when I walked into the kitchen, a position I often found him in when it was nearing the end of the month and our food supplies were running low. I swear my brother has grown the same eyes in the back of his head that our Mom used to have because he addressed me without turning round.

"Did you wash your hair, kiddo?"

"Yep," I answered, carefully keeping the eye roll out of my voice. It's a habit left over from when I was a little kid and I hated getting shampoo in my eyes, but I was totally over it now, he didn't need to check that I was cleaning myself properly!

"Good boy. Now set the table for me, please. Make up six places, I reckon everyone's gonna show but we can always put 'em away if we don't need 'em." I moved across to the opposite counter, stretching up onto my tippy toes to reach the top shelf of the cupboard. Behind me I heard Darry sigh followed by the dull thud of the refrigerator closing. "Gonna be cold cuts again for supper, bud. You want green beans or corn as a vegetable?"

"Corn," I replied immediately, not even having to think about it. I hated green beans.

"Now there's a surprise!" He joked, coming up behind me and reaching over my head to grab the plates. I stuck my tongue out at him as he handed them to me, smirking. One day I was gonna be taller than him if it was the last thing I ever did! "You know that means we're just gonna wind up eatin' them tomorrow, right?"

I shrugged, starting to lay the table. "No point in borrowin' trouble," I replied cheekily, throwing him a grin over my shoulder. He laughed and moved to help me, pulling a bunch of cutlery from the drawer on his way.

"No point in borrowin' trouble," he repeated, dumping the utensils in the centre of the table. It was one of our Dad's favourite sayings, he used to whisper it to Mama whenever she was feeling anxious about things. It basically means it's a waste of time stressing about tomorrow when you could still be enjoying today and is a pretty nifty phrase when you live as much of a hand to mouth lifestyle as we do. "You remember Daddy sayin' that, kiddo?"

I nodded, happy to share a memory with my big brother. Sometimes it felt like Darry got to be the authority on all things relating to our parents just because he'd gotten to have the most time with them. But I remembered things too and as time passed it was becoming less and less painful to talk about our 'before'. Darry smiled at me and reached out to ruffle my still-damp hair.

"I'm glad, buddy. Daddy was a wiser man than most people gave him credit for. Besides I reckon we already got ourselves enough trouble as it is!" I screwed up my nose, not understanding what he was referring to. I opened my mouth to ask but before I could get a word out the screen door banged open and Two-Bit's obnoxious voice boomed through the house.

"Honey, I'm home! And boy am I famished! You would not believe the day I've had, I swear Richard from Accounting is stealing paper-clips again!" He came striding into the kitchen like a guy just returned from work, swinging the bag of roles like an imaginary briefcase and Darry caught my eye, raising his eyebrows at me in an 'I told ya so'. He must've heard them coming up the sidewalk and predicted what was coming. When Steve, Two-Bit and Soda got together things always got crazy. I grinned at him, then laughed properly when Two-Bit stood up on his tip-toes as if to give Darry a peck on the cheek, like he was Little Suzy Homemaker. Darry shoved him away good naturedly, used to being the butt of Keith's jokes just like I was, and grabbed the bag of rolls from his hand.

"Keep it up and they'll be no supper for you, Keith Matthews. You're eating me out of house and home as it is!" Two-Bit drew back in mock dismay, clutching at his chest. I kind of wanted to stick around to see what crazy schtick he'd come up with next but I heard the sound of Soda's voice in the living room and after our earlier conversation I found myself wanting to stick close to him. Darry was distracted enough by Two-Bit that I was able to slip out of the kitchen unnoticed, leaving the table only half set behind me.

"Hey, kiddo!" Soda beamed as I walked across the lounge to him, raising an arm to tuck me into his side as soon as I got there. "You have a nice shower?"

I nodded, feeling shy all of a sudden with my wet hair and pyjamas. I kind of wished it could be just me and my brothers tonight so I could curl up with Soda for a quiet night of television, but there was no chance of that now, especially with the way Steve was glowering at me.

"You on your way to bed, kid?" He asked, a hopeful tone to his voice as he took note of my night clothes. Of course he wanted rid of me of soon as possible. "Soda and I got things to talk about that ain't meant for little baby ears!"

"Of course he ain't, we ain't even had dinner yet!" Soda chided, like Darry hadn't sent me to bed without dinner just last month. "Besides you just wanna go on and on about Evie, ain't no reason he can't listen to that kinda talk!" Steve rolled his eyes and scowled at me, but sighed in defeat as Soda lead me over to the couch and sat us both down. "What's Darry fixin' for dinner anyway, Pone?"

"Cold cuts," I replied, tucking me legs under me and pressing myself against him, just to piss Steve off even more. They both groaned.

"Not again!" Soda griped, loud enough for Darry to hear. "That don't even count as makin' anything! It's just puttin' meat on a plate!"

"You don't like it, Little Buddy, feel free to whip us up something outta ketchup and thin air 'cause that's all we've got in the ice box!" Darry hollered from the kitchen, not really mad because it was Soda who'd complained. Soda laughed and waved him away, even though our bother hadn't even bothered to come out of the kitchen.

"Nah, no one can make up a cold plate like you, Dar! Now listen up good, Pony, Stevie's gonna tell us all about how easy it is for a girl to turn a guy's brain to mush and make him act like a complete idiot!" Steve kicked him hard enough for me to feel it too, but again, because it was Soda, he went ahead and told his story anyway.

"Boys, come and eat!" Darry called half an hour later, stopping Steve mid-rant. I'd tuned out after he called Evie a stuck-up bitch for the third time and retreated into my head, thinking about the novel I was currently reading. Soda had winked at me but hadn't called me out on it so I expect he was just humouring Steve as well. After all that happened with Sandy, he definitely had the monopoly on stuck-up bitches.

Two-Bit was already sat at the table when we ambled in and I slid carefully into the seat beside him, pointedly glowering at him to let him know I hadn't forgotten how he'd embarrassed me earlier.

"Nooo, not the famous Ponyboy pout!" He wailed dramatically, nearly causing Darry to drop the plate of chicken he was bringing to the table. "I'll do anything you want, kid, just please, turn off the pout!"

I never could stay mad at Two-Bit so after a minute I let my mouth turn up into a grin and punched him hard under the table. He retaliated by poking me in the stomach which he knows is where I'm most ticklish and I immediately folded over in giggles.

"I don't know whether I want you two sittin' next to each other…" Darry frowned, having just pulled my plate out of the way before I face-planted into it. He was drowned out by Soda's laughter.

"He forgives but he never forgets, Two! Better sleep with one eye open from now on!" Soda crowed, beaming at us from across the table.

"Jesus, I wish I could forget. I swear I've seen that kid's bare ass more time's than I've seen my own!" Steve butted in like a dark cloud and I stuck my tongue out at him. He was getting on my nerves more than usual today, which was really sayin' something.

"Definitely more times than Evie's," I muttered, referring to the complaints he'd aired in the living room. I thought I'd said it under my breath but it must've come out louder than I thought because Steve slammed his fist down on the table hard enough to make our glasses jump and Soda and Two-Bit both erupted into howls of laughter.

"Ponyboy Curtis!" Darry snapped, reaching out to slap at my shoulder. He barely touched me though and when I looked up at him guiltily I swear he was biting the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face.

"I swear to God this kid is gonna rule the world one day!" Two-Bit howled once he'd calmed down enough to form words, still wiping at his eyes. Soda was practically hyper-ventilating and clutching at Steve's bicep to keep himself up right.

"Oh shit, Steve, he didn't…he didn't…Oh my god! Ponyboy, you kill me!" He shook his head, laughter still hiccuping out of his mouth whenever he caught sight of Steve's furious face. I was personally doing everything in my power to avoid looking at him, but I could feel the daggers he was shooting my way and knew he'd find a way to make me pay for my smart mouth later. "He might not say much but when he does, boy, it's a doozy, eh Dar?!"

"You can say that again," Darry grumbled, having had time enough to remember he was supposed to be acting like our guardian and not just one of the guys. "Apologise to Steve, Ponyboy. That was uncalled for."

"Sorry, Steve," I parroted immediately, deliberately keeping my eyes trained on the table in front of me. "I'm sure you've seen Evie's butt loads of times."

Darry had me up and out of my chair before the shocked laughter of Soda and Two-Bit had even reached my ears. He dragged me to the far corner of the kitchen, depositing me there with three hefty smacks to my behind that had me yelping and covering myself quick smart.

"I don't know what's gotten into you but it stops right now," he hissed in my ear, still holding my arm tightly. "I really don't wanna tan your hide tonight but so help me I will if you keep pushin', you understand?" I nodded quickly, wanting him out of my personal space as soon as possible. "Good. Now you're gonna stay here until I think you're ready to act like a decent human being again then you're gonna eat your dinner and mind your manners else I'll make good on that promise!"

He left me in the corner, the table now in hushed silence behind me. I sniffed, snaking one hand back to give my butt a quick run while my brother's back was turned. Even though he'd only popped me three times, he had truly reignited the sting from yesterday's session and I was already regretting my glib remark. I don't even know why I said it, sometimes things like that just jumped out of my mouth before I could stop them! Sighing in frustration, I looked down at my bare feet and began to pick at the scuffed lino with my big toe. Hopefully Darry wouldn't leave me here too long, I was hungry!

Time passed weirdly as it always does in the corner. I was starting to think that Darry might've forgotten all about me when I heard Two-Bit say: "Come on, Dar, let him out of kiddie jail. He's sat in on enough of our bull sessions, he was bound to pick something up!"

I held my breath, waiting for Darry to respond. He took his time and I almost called out to him to plead my case, but remembered just in time how much he hates me talking in the corner and stopped myself.

"Ponyboy, come here please." I immediately hurried over to stand beside my brother, keeping my head low and my hands tucked behind me just in case. "Now if there's one thing I will not stand for it's little boys talkin' bad about things they don't understand and ain't none of their business. It ain't cute, it ain't funny and if you decide to make a habit out of it don't think I won't start poppin' that smart mouth! That something you need me to start doin' with you, like Tim does with Curly?"

"No, Sir," I whispered, dragging my eyes up to meet his. Curly was well-known for his big mouth and I'd seen Tim hit him hard enough to knock him to the ground more times than I could count. I knew Darry would never take it that far with me, but he had quick hands and I definitely wasn't keen for him to add any more punishments to his arsenal.

"Then I guess you'd better learn to watch your mouth because we ain't gonna have this conversation again. Now apologise to Steve, properly this time! What you said wasn't only rude to him, it was rude to Evie so you'd better hope he's feelin' generous!" Darry reached out and took hold of my shoulder, turning me so I was facing Steve across the table. I hadn't thought about how my comment could be seen as insinuating something about Evie's reputation and I felt instantly worse. I'd only met her a handful of times but she'd always been nice to me and I felt no ill will towards her at all.

"I'm really sorry, Steve. I didn't mean what I said, I just wasn't thinkin' and I was mad that you were makin' fun of me about earlier. But that ain't an excuse and I promise I'll be more careful with my words. Will you forgive me?" It took me until the last line of my speech to meet Steve's eye and when I finally did he looked more exasperated than anything, waving my apology away with his hand like it was a fly buzzin' around him.

"Yeah yeah, kid, don't go gettin' all soppy about it. Of course I forgive you, but you gotta learn to keep your mouth shut if you wanna be included in stuff with me and Soda, yeh?" I nodded, just catching myself before I replied with a Yessir. It happened sometimes when one of the gang got stern with me and always made me cringe. Steve nodded back and Darry, seemingly satisfied with that, nudged me back towards my place, signally for me to sit down.

"Give me your plate," he instructed, filling it for me once I'd handed it to him. I squirmed in my seat, my butt hurting worse than it had previously thanks to his heavy hands. He noticed and quirked an eyebrow as he placed my plate back in front of me. "That's right, you can just sit on that sore bottom and think about whether tryin' to be a comedian was worth it."

I felt my face heat up at his words and quickly picked up my fork, deciding to keep my head down for the rest of the meal. It sucked gettin' in trouble with everyone watching!

"Kid's got a long way to go before he reaches my levels of comedic genius, but you gotta admit, Dar, it was a little funny…" Two-Bit once again took up for me and I shot him a quick smile before stuffing my mouth full in the hope that I could leave the table as soon as possible and without further incident.

"Keith…" Darry groaned, sounding a mix of frustrated and defeated that the matter hadn't been dropped.

"He's not exactly wrong either, eh Stevie?" Soda chipped in, elbowing Steve gently until he was able to coax a smile of him.

"Not exactly, but I'mma gentleman so I don't kiss and tell!"

"A gentleman!" Two-Bit hooted, making a gross snorting sound with his nose. "Hardly! Why I remember that time when-!"

"Enough!" Darry hollered, effectively cutting Two-Bit off before he could reveal some sordid detail from Steve's past. "Everyone just shut-up and eat, please! How am I meant to teach him manners when you lot behave like a pack of heathens?!"

"Sorry, Darry," Soda mumbled, Two-Bit and Steve following his lead seconds later. We all ducked our heads over our meals but when I glanced up through my eyelashes I could see them all smirking at one another and I knew my faux-pas had been well and truly forgotten.

Dinner continently relatively calmly after that, with Darry not even bothering to protest when I sneakily scraped half my coleslaw onto Two-Bit's plate. I guess everything from earlier had worn him out. He handed out fudgsicles for dessert and I was just starting to think things were lookin' up when he said the words I'd been dreading.

"Soda's gonna put you to bed tonight, Ponyboy." I froze, my popsicle half way to my mouth, as my brother continued talking like he was discussing the weather. "You can go right after you've finished eating as we're leavin' early again tomorrow. I'll look out some of my old text books for you tonight and pick out some things you need to work on."

My eyes had darted across the table to find Soda's and he looked as unhappy about this turn of events as I was. I hadn't exactly forgotten that he was meant to be givin' me a bedtime spanking but because our earlier conversation had gone so well, I'd kind of figured it was no longer on the table. Clearly Darry had other ideas.

"Ok, Ponyboy?" He prompted and I realised I'd stopped listening and missed whatever it was he wanted me to agree with. But my butt was still tingling so there was clearly only one answer.

"Ok," I agreed miserably, my fudgsicle starting to drip down onto my hand. I didn't even want it now.

"Dar, come on, we don't need to be doin' that. Everything's square between us now so what's the point?" If possible, Soda seemed more upset than I was. He'd finished his own popsicle and was now brandishing the stick angrily in Darry's direction. I felt Two-Bit shift awkwardly in his seat beside me and Steve was intently studying the table top, copiously avoiding eye contact with anyone. We could all feel an argument brewing and when things kicked off between Darry and Soda, no one was safe.

Steve and Two-Bit understood what Darry meant when he said Soda was going to put me to bed of course. It was common rhetoric in our house and was only marginally less embarrassing than Darry declaring outright that I was due a spanking. It was often used as a warning to improve my behaviour, like "At the rate you're going you're gonna find yourself being put to bed real early tonight, kiddo" or as an outright threat, as in "Do you need to be put to bed, Ponyboy?" I think it came from my mom, who often used to send us to bed to wait for Daddy to come home and deal with us when we were little. Either way, and unluckily for me, it had stuck.

"The point, Sodapop, is consequences!" Darry replied icily and I was suddenly very glad he wasn't the one walloping me tonight. "I am so sick of goin' over and over this with you! When he screws up he needs to know - "

Soda cut him off mid-rant. "It's not that! Darry I really don't think it should be me, not after what happened yesterday! What if…what if it happens again and you ain't there to -"

Now it was Darry's turn to interrupt, his voice much less harsh now. "Stop, Soda, it's ok. Pony, go and wait in your room, please. Soda and I are gonna have a quick chat then he'll be to see to you."

I glanced quickly between my brothers, slipping down from my chair when Soda nodded his head at me. I handed my sticky dessert off to Two-Bit then slowly made my way towards my room. I purposely dragged my feet, hoping I might be able to overhear part of my brothers' conversation without having to intentionally eavesdrop. Instead I heard their chairs scrape back and footsteps retreating into the living room where I had no chance of listening in.

"What's his problem?" I heard Two-Bit ask from the kitchen, or something along those lines since his mouth was still full of fudgsicle.

"He got a bit carried away when he was wailin' on the kid yesterday," Steve explained nonchalantly, his lack of concern for my well-being coming as no surprise at all. "Darry ended up pullin' Ponyboy away from him but Soda said if he hadn't he might've really hurt him."

"Shit," Two-Bit responded in a low voice.

"I told him it was probably just the kid ramping up the dramatics and makin' a fuss like usual but he's been really cut up about it all day…" I left them to it, having heard as much as I cared to and not wanting to risk being caught loitering in the hallway when I was supposed to be in my room.

Once there I left my door open a crack so I could hopefully hear footsteps approaching then sat down on Soda's side of the bed since it was closer to the door. I wasn't sure what to do with myself and I could feel the desire to start biting my thumb creeping in, so instead I grabbed my old stuffed rabbit, Hoppy, down from the shelf above our bed where I kept him in case of emergencies. I knew I was way to old to still be playing with stuffed animals but sometimes when I really needed comfort stroking Hoppy's soft ears was the only thing that would calm me. Darry told me it was ok so I tried not to worry about it too much and just hope I'd eventually grow out of it.

I lay back against the bed, keeping my feet on the floor so I could sit up easily if anyone came in, and tucked Hoppy into the space between my neck and shoulder, gently rubbing his ears against my cheek. I'm not sure how long I lay there but I was almost asleep by the time the door eased open and Sodapop stuck his head in.

"Can I come in?" He asked, like I had any right to say no. It was his room too! But it was nice of him to ask so I nodded, sitting up and blinking as he turned on the overhead light. I hadn't noticed the room growing dark. He made his way over to the bed, shutting the door behind him, and sat down beside me. He looked down at Hoppy in my lap and smiled, taking him from hands. "Hey, Hoppy! How's it been going, buddy? Long time no see, huh?"

I blushed slightly, bumping shoulders with him to get him to quit. Instead he grinned at me, bringing Hoppy up to his ear as if he was speaking to him. "Don't be embarrassed, Pone, me and Hoppy go way back. And I think he's got somethin' real important he wants to tell me." He made a face like he was listening real hard and I sat up straighter despite myself, wondering what my brother was up to. "Mmm hmm, you don't say. Really, is that so? Well I think that sounds like a mighty fine idea, Hoppy. Uh huh, I'll go aheard and tell him right now."

He turned his attention back to me, Hoppy now hanging limply in his hands. He seemed to be lookin' real hard at my face, the way Darry does when he's trying to figure out what's going on in my head but hasn't thought to ask. After a minute I began to feel a little uncomfortable at the scrutiny and shifted slightly in my seat.

"What did he say?" I asked eventually, thanking God and Elvis and Ed Sullivan and whomever else that there was only my brother in the room to hear me say it.

"Hoppy thinks it would be a good idea if we just pretended I gave you your bedtime spankin' today. He reckons you've already learnt your lesson and that I probably shouldn't be dishin' out any punishments for a while after how I acted with you yesterday." I frowned at his response, not sure what I'd been expecting but definitely not that.

"But what about Darry?"

"Darry thinks you still need a little help to remember to mind me, but I don't agree with him. So what Hoppy and I have decided is we'll take a pillow and I'll hit it a few times while you cry out, then we'll get straight into bed and he'll be none the wiser. Sound good?"

"But…but…" I stammered, not sure what to make of this new plan at all. I really didn't want another spanking but it felt wrong to dodge one when Darry so clearly felt I deserved it. "But I was bad, Soda. I made you feel like what you say don't matter to me when that ain't true at all! And what happened yesterday was just because you were scared but it came out mad. That happens to Darry all the time, it don't mean you ain't allowed to punish me no more. I still need you to teach me right from wrong, Soda!"

Soda had been palming Hoppy back and forth throughout my speech and I saw him take a few big swallows. When he finally did look up at me, his eyes were shiny and his expression stricken.

"How can you trust me not to take it too far again, Pone? I'd rather die than hurt you like that!" For once in my life I couldn't find the necessary words to ease my brother's guilt so instead I decided to show him.

I tucked my legs up underneath me so I was on my hands and knees on the bed and took Hoppy from Soda, propping him up against my pillow so he'd be there later if I needed him. Soda turned to watch me as I crawled back towards him, carefully draping myself over his lap and grasping hold of his ankle. I felt him twist above me as he reached for a pillow, clearly thinking I hadn't quite understood the plan.

"No, Soda," I called, stopping him in his tracks. "I want you to do it properly. I deserve it for making you feel crumby and not listening when you're the one person in the world who always tells me the right things."

My brother was still and silent for a long moment and when I twisted my head to look up at him he was just staring at my pyjama-clad behind over his knee. Even though it was me who'd placed myself there, I still had some sense of self-preservation and had deliberately not taken my pants down, although I'd already decided that if Soda chose to do it I wouldn't fight him.

"You sure, Pone?" He asked shakily and I nodded firmly, making sure he met my eye.

"Yes, Soda. You're the one puttin' me to bed tonight." He didn't say anything else but a few moments later I felt him raise his hand. I tensed before I could stop myself but the swat that landed so was soft I hardly felt it. It was more of a tap than anything and Soda must've cupped his hand for it to make any sound at all. I thought maybe he was just warming up but the second one fell exactly like the first. I turned to look at him and my confusion must've been obvious because he let out a short laugh.

"Almost done, buddy," he said. And before I could respond he bought his hand down for the third and final time. "There, all done."

"Soda…" I began, but he was already lifting me up from his lap. He stood me in front of him and chuckled again, giving the back of my neck a squeeze. If it had been anyone else other than Soda I would've been suspicious that this was just a rouse and any moment he would pull me back down to give me my real spanking, but my brother didn't play that way. Still though, he'd barely touched me! Darry's smacks in the kitchen had been harder!

"Am I the one puttin' you to bed or are you puttin' yourself to bed?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at me. I took a moment to respond, still not sure what was going on.

"You're puttin' me to bed," I told him eventually. It felt like everything was topsy-turvy, first I asked Soda to spank me and now I was holding out because I thought he hadn't whooped me hard enough?!

"That's right and I say we're done, so we're done," he stated firmly, but not in a mean way, more just in a big brother way. It reminded me of my promise to listen to him more so I decided to stop thinking so hard for once in my life and just take things as they were.

"Ok," I conceded, leaning forward and lacing my arms around his neck for a hug. He pulled me tightly against him, rocking me a little in his arms.

"You're a good kid, Ponyboy," he said into my hair. "And I'm so happy I get to be your big brother."

We cuddled for a few more minutes, only pulling apart when the door creaked open and Darry's head appeared in the gap.

"Everything ok?" He asked quietly, smiling when he saw me still in Soda's arms. "It's been mighty quiet in here…"

"Just peachy, Dar," Soda quipped, shooting him that movie-star smile. "But I'm pretty beat so I think I'm gonna lay down with Pony for a while. Can you tell the guys I'll see 'em tomorrow?"

"Sure, little buddy, you get some rest. G'night, boys." We both responded with our own goodnights as he pulled the door softly closed behind him. Soda smiled down at me and patted my back, shifting me towards my side of the bed.

"You heard the man, kiddo, let's get some shut eye!"

Soda didn't bother to change out of his clothes or get under the covers when he lay down beside me so I figured he would likely only stick around until I was asleep, then he'd sneak out and have another chat with Darry. Normally this would make me feel left-out and babyish but tonight I was just struck by how much my brothers cared about me and how lucky I was to have them. Soda was resting on his side, one arm thrown across my chest and gently moving back and forth, his eyes fixed intently on my face. I knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. "I can see that big ol' brain of yours workin' overtime, Pone. What're you thinkin' about?"

Part of me wanted to tell him, but I figured we'd had enough brotherly bonding for one night, so, after a jaw-splitting yawn I decided on the thought that had been niggling at the back of my mind since this afternoon.

"I'm wonderin' how I can sneak one of my books into the truck with me tomorrow, so I don't have to spend the whole day goin' over Darry's old school work!"

"Shoot, kid, that's an easy one!" Soda replied, propping his head up on his elbow so he could grin down at me. "Just shove it down the back of your pants!"

I have no idea if it's possible to laugh yourself to sleep, but I swear that's exactly what I did.

* * *

_Extra long chapter to make up for the delayed update! Plus I just love writing sassy Ponyboy! Hope it was worth the wait!_


	14. Chapter 13

The last few weeks of summer slid by and we gradually found a new routine. After a few days of keeping me confined to the truck, then watching me practically vibrate out of my seat at the dinner table due to unspent energy, Darry started taking me to the highschool track on our way back home. He'd watch me run, timing me with Dad's old watch and giving me tips on how to improve my form.

Darry's main strengths in football had been his size and his muscle, but I often forgot that he'd needed to be quick on his feet too so his advice was genuinely helpful. It also felt nice to have his attention focused on me for something positive for a change! Hearing him yell my name in praise rather than anger definitely made me walk a little taller. Sometimes, if he wasn't too tired, he'd even jog along beside me for a little bit, his longer stride balancing out my quicker speed so we were pretty equally matched. Then on Friday's we'd race and that was the best!

While a part of me missed hanging out in the neighbourhood and shootin' the breeze with the guys, it did feel nice to have some structure to my days and I could tell both my brothers were more relaxed knowing I wasn't just mooching around the city and gettin' into trouble. School vacations had also posed a bit of a dilemma in the past with both of them working full time and I knew they'd felt guilty about leaving me on my lonesome all day, so Darry's punishment actually turned out to be a pretty neat solution. And it got even better once I started helping out at the office on the work site.

On my third day in lockdown Darry had, somewhat reluctantly, introduced me to his roofin' crew and I guess they took a liking to me because they'd been ribbing him about keeping me squirrelled away all day ever since. That particular morning a grizzled guy named Ed had shouted "Kids die in hot cars, Curtis!" as we drove past, leading to hoots of laugher from his buddies. I'd quickly glanced across at Darry to gage his reaction.

"That's dogs!" He'd hollered back, shaking his head and muttering under his breath about dumb-dumbs, but he'd looked back at me with furrowed eyebrows as he walked away to start work. Later that same day a tentative knock on the side of the truck made me jump out of my skin, immersed as I was in the quadratic equations Darry had threatened to test me on later. A frilly laugh had me scrambling up from where I'd been laying on my belly, banging my knee in the process.

"Oh! Careful there, honey! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." I looked up into the face of a young woman, her hair set in an old-fashioned style with curls around her forehead and thick glasses that made her look slightly bug-eyed. "I know your brother's been keeping you out here so you can focus on your school work but it's so darn hot today, I just couldn't bear the thought of it! Will you come with me to the office for a spell? I have ice tea!"

She had an accent that I couldn't quite place, something southern for sure. She seemed nice enough and I sure could go for an ice anything right about now but Darry had told me in no uncertain terms to stay with the truck or else. "Umm, that's real kind of you, Ma'am, but my brother really don't like me wonderin' off or talkin' to people we don't know real well…" I trailed off, hoping she wouldn't think I was being rude.

"Oh my goodness, I haven't even introduced myself!" She clutched her hand to her heart and shook her head vigorously, causing her glasses to slide down her nose. "Of course you shouldn't go walking off with a stranger, your brother is exactly right about that! My name is Evelyn Gordon, I'm married to Bobby Gordon who's Daddy owns the company! Maybe you've heard your brother talk about him?"

I nodded tentatively, not wanting to admit that the last thing Darry wanted to talk about on his time off was work.

"I've started helping out in the office since Mr Gordon's health took a turn and my goodness it was a state! Just these last few days I've been thinking to myself 'if only I had someone to help me with all these files,' and then I thought 'my, there's that smart boy of Darrell's who'd be just perfect!' So, I confess I do have an ulterior motive for inviting you for tea, but my offer is made with the best of intentions I can assure you! So, will you indulge me? You'd be doing me such a favour I'm sure Darrell won't object but if for some reason he did, you can direct him straight to me! How does that sound?"

"Well…" I began, biting my lip a little to keep from grinning. This lady sure was kooky, with her funny words and her big ol' spectacles, but I couldn't help but like her. Besides, quadratic equations weren't exactly lighting my world on fire. "I guess that would be ok, just for a little while. If you're sure it'd help you out, Ma'am?"

"I am 100% certain, young man. And you can call me Miss Evelyn."

And that was that. In the office, which mercifully had a fan blowin' air around the small space so it was marginally cooler than outside, I met Robert Gordon Sr who was the big boss, but far as I could tell spent much of his time sat in an easy chair listenin' to sports talk on the radio. He seemed thrilled to see me and called me 'Darrell's boy' so I wasn't sure if he was referring to Darry or Daddy. Either way he'd wave me over any time the results were read out and have me write them down in a little notebook he kept in his shirt pocket. Miss Evelyn would smile indulgently and sneak him molasses cookies through out the day even though he was meant to be on a diet due to his bad heart.

She'd also not been joking when she said the office was a mess. We got stuck in straight away and pretty soon had the beginnings of a system worked out. Somewhat surprisingly I found I liked getting things in order and finding a place for everything, it bought a sense of accomplishment that I hadn't expected. Miss Evelyn insisted we stop for tea and cookies around noon, which was slightly unfortunate as this is how Darry found me when he stuck his head in the door to say he was takin' his lunch break.

"Little boy, you are just askin' for a whoopin'!" He snapped as soon as he caught sight of me, my mouth full of cookie and a guilty look on my face. I'd somehow managed to forget all about him and nearly fell off the cool spinney chair Mr Gordon had insisted I sit in so I could 'get a taste for business'. Ms Evelyn caught my shoulder and steadied me just in time but looked a little flustered herself. An upset Darry tended to have that affect on people. "What did I tell you about botherin' people and makin' a nuisance of yourself?!"

"Now please, Darrell, let's not lose our heads here! He's been a pleasure to have around, isn't that right, Mr Gordon?"

"Quite right!" Mr Gordon agreed from his chair. "Darrell you can't keep a young boy cooped up all day, he needs to be out and about so he can get a taste for the world!"

"He's been out gettin' more of a taste than he should have, Sir, that's the problem!" Darry shot back, his tone polite but clipped. He frowned at me then clicked his fingers to point at the spot he wanted me and like a magnet, I was standing there not two seconds later, my ice tea abandoned on the desk. "I apologise for my brother's intrusion, I can insure you it won't happen again."

His hand came up to rest heavily on the back of my neck and I gulped despite myself.

"Darrell, please, this is all my fault! I needed someone to help me get things organised and I wouldn't take no for an answer! Please don't be angry with him, he's been the picture of helpfulness since he walked in the door!" Miss Evelyn was starting to look upset herself now so I decided to make things easier for everyone.

"It's ok, Miss Evelyn, really. The new filing system is practically ready to go now and I've started a new ledger for the accounts, you'll just need to fill in the figures from last month so things can balance out."

"Growing boys need to be kept busy, Darrell, you know that! Look at the legs on this one! He'll be as tall as you one day and then you'll really see the cut of him!" Mr Gordon seemed not to have noticed that the conversation had moved on and was still lecturing Darry on how to bring up boys.

"At least let him finish his ice tea, Darrell," Miss Evelyn implored, talking over Mr Gordon as he continued to rattle on. "He's our guest!"

"I think you mean pest," Darry quipped after a minute and I looked up at him in surprise. He squeezed my neck in response and smiled at Miss Evelyn. "But, if he's being as much use to you as you say he is, you're welcome to keep him for the afternoon, Mrs Gordon."

"He truly is, Darrell, thank you. And I apologise to you, it was improper of me to engage his services without asking your permission first."

"Not at all," Darry replied, shaking his head. "My brother just has a habit of winding up in places he has not right to be but I'm glad he's been behaving himself with you." He squeezed the back of my neck gently and I couldn't help but squirm, his resulting laugh only making my cheeks heat up more. "Since Mrs Gordon has been kind enough to pour you some of her famous sweet tea, how about you have your lunch in here today, Ponyboy? I'll fetch it from the truck when I get mine. Will that be ok, Mrs Gordon?"

"Absolutely, Darrell. In fact it's time for Mr Gordon's lunch as well, so we can all eat together!" She sounded so genuinely thrilled by this concept that I couldn't help but wonder how lonely she was stuck out on this site in the middle of no where with just her father in law for company. She was the first woman I'd seen in all the time I'd been here. "You are, of course, welcome to join us, Darrell."

"Thank you but I'll decline, Mrs Gordon. It's been a while since I ate with the crew, they're startin' to think I'm gettin' ideas above my station! But I'm more than happy for Ponyboy to stay with you. I'll call back in to collect him before quittin' time but if you're done with him before then, just send him back to the truck. I've made sure there's plenty of school work for him to be gettin' on with so he won't be bored."

I wasn't a fan of how they'd switched to talking about me as if I wasn't in the room and was pretty content for Darry to be on his way so I could get back to my ice tea and Miss Evelyn tellin' me how great at filin' I was.

"Yes, of course. Although I must admit it's a big undertaking to get this place up to scratch, so I may be requiring your brother's assistance for the foreseeable future, subject to your permission of course. But for now, lunch!" Miss Evelyn clapped her hands together excitedly like a little kid and Darry took that as his cue to leave. He didn't catch the wink she threw my way as he was busy pulling me against him so he could kiss the top of my head.

"I'll fetch you your lunch, kiddo. You want chicken or pb&j?"

"Pb&j," I replied automatically, still amazed at the way Miss Evelyn had managed to turn the situation around.

"You got it. Thanks again, Mrs Gordon, Sir." And just like that, he was gone without giving me so much as a swat!

"Bye for now, Darrell!" Miss Evelyn called after him, then turned to fix me with the biggest grin I'd ever seen. "I told you I'd take care of things, sugar. Kill 'em with kindness, that's what my mother always said! Now, let me fix Mr Gordon his lunch so we can all eat together!" And off she bustled to a little area off the back, where I assumed there was a small kitchen of some sorts.

"Isn't she marvellous?" Mr Gordon spoke up, watching as I returned to my chair still in a state of shock. "I was just thrilled when Bobby came back from college with Evelyn in tow! And not just because she can cook better than any woman I've ever known!"

"Her sweet tea really is something," I agreed, taking a long gulp to replenish myself. Suddenly a thought struck me. "Say Mr Gordon, you really think I'll be as tall as Darry some day?"

"Son, I'd bet my house on it." He declared and you'd better believe that kept me smilin' until bedtime!

Talking of bedtime, my spankings had also been going well, following much the same pattern the first one had taken. I was still being sent to bed early by Darry, but then Soda would come in and we'd snuggle for a while and chat about our days. Then right before it was time for me to go to sleep, he'd tug me across his lap (some nights he didn't even bother to move from his position leaning up against the headboard, just pulling me across his body) and tap my butt three times before flipping me the right way up again and tucking me into bed.

The only time he properly smacked me was when I'd gotten a little too mouthy about having to do the dishes. Luckily Darry had been out of earshot and Soda didn't tell on me, but he definitely let my behind feel it later. Still I'd rather take a spanking from Soda than Darry so I couldn't even complain about that really!

It was during one of our nightly talks that I first bought up the idea of going back to the High Rock. I'd preferred to have done it while we were falling asleep so the incredulous look he fixed me with would've been diminished by the darkness, but due to my early starts with Dar I'd started dozing off before Soda had even come to bed, so it was now or never.

"Jesus, Ponyboy, you're like a dog with a bone! You really don't know when to quit, huh?" Soda sounded half amused and half annoyed with me, which I choose to take as a positive sign. However I did feel like he tapped my butt a little harder than usual that night, so I left it a few days before bringing it up again.

In my defence, I was doing it for his own good. I'd heard the fear in his voice when he was explaining to me how afraid of heights he was and I'd read enough about phobias to know that pretty much the only way to conquer them was to face it head on. I figured maybe if we could jump off the High Rock together, it would kind of replace the memory of me on the roof. To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure about that part, but it had sounded legit when I whispered the plan to Johnny through my open window after Soda had left me 'sleeping.'

The next time I mentioned it, Soda frowned at me before pulling me away from his side and sitting me up on the bed so I was facing him.

"What are you planning, kiddo?" He asked suspiciously. "Whatever it is you'd best tell me else Darry is liable to think you didn't learn your lesson about sneaking around behind our backs and that most definitely will not end well for you." I had never planned on keeping it a secret so went ahead and explained it to him. To his credit he didn't get mad, but he adamantly shook his head.

"It's nice of you to think of me, buddy, but it'll be a cold day in Hell before I jump offa anything higher than the porch," were his exact words and I decided it would be best to let him sit with the idea for a while before trying again. Soda didn't like change and it always took him a while to come round to new ideas, so I knew to bide my time and not nag him about it now that I'd planted the seed.

The third and final time I raised the idea, my brother sighed and squeezed me tight against him.

"You sure are a stubborn little cuss, ain't ya?" He scolded, but there was pride in his voice and I could tell he was grinning. I rested my head against his chest and waited him out. "I dunno, Pone. You really think it'll cure me?"

"I dunno, but surely it's worth a try?" I responded, the thrum of his heartbeat matching my own. "You'll get to fly with me this time."

He leant forward and kissed my head, smoothing my hair back absent mindedly.

"We'll see," he said eventually and I smiled into his shirt because I knew what that meant!

Sure enough, a week before the end of summer Steve's car came screeching into the parking lot by the athletics track where Darry and I were practising.

"What the-" Darry hollered as a spray of gravel sprayed across where he was sat in the bleachers and I quickly jogged over, eager to see what was about to happen.

"Playtime's over, boys! We're goin' swimmin'!" Soda yelled out the passenger side window and I let out a whoop, immediately understanding that we were off to Sullivan's Pond.

"What?" Darry spluttered again. "It's a Tuesday night and you and I both gotta work in the mornin'!"

"Oh come on, Superman! Live a little!" Two-Bit's head appeared at the back window and I could see Johnny and Dal silhouetted behind him. The whole gang was here!

"I'm gonna wake you up at 5am tomorrow mornin' when Ponyboy and I have to leave and see how you like it!" Darry threatened, suddenly seeming to remember about me and turning his laser stare in my direction. "I don't know how and I don't know why, but I'm betting this has something to do with you, little boy."

I shrugged my shoulders, putting on my best innocent expression. "It's a good thing, Dar, honest! Please can we go? It's for Soda!"

He kept me pinned with his stare for a few more long seconds before jerking his head in the direction of the truck. "Go on then, before I change my mind! But your ass is on the line, kiddo, so don't make me regret this!"

Loud cheers erupted from Steve's car at his words and I saw Darry grin despite himself.

"We'll meet you losers there!" Steve yelled, already revving the engine and, after Darry's nod of acknowledgement, he roared out of the parking lot. I'd already bounded over to the truck the second Darry gave the ok, so I was ready and waiting as he climbed in. He took his sweet time turning on the ignition and rummaging around for his sunglasses so I was practically vibrating with excitement by the time he turned to look at me.

"Ok buddy boy, spill it!" I explained the whole plan to Darry on the drive out to Sullivan's Pond and, to my surprise, he didn't immediately shoot it down. He listened carefully and nodded along thoughtfully, turning to smile at me when I eventually finished up. "You're a good kid, Pony. Really, you are. I know how much you wanna help Soda and, heck, if anyone can do it I reckon it'll be you but I want you to promise me you won't get upset if things don't work out like you want 'em to. Phobias ain't rational, kiddo and even if Soda wants to jump with you more than anything in the world, he just might not be able to do it. And if that happens, we ain't gonna make him feel worse by bein' mad at him or actin' all disappointed. It'll be a big deal for him to even get out on the ledge so I don't want you to get your hopes up too high, ok? We're gonna be proud of Sodapop whatever happens, right?"

"Right," I agreed immediately, despite not really having considered the possibility that Soda might not be able to jump with me even if he wanted to. I think Darry'd figured this because he nodded his approval then left me to my thoughts for the rest of the journey.

Of course they guys beat us to the lake and were already causing a rukus at the water's edge when we pulled up. Having hung out with Two-Bit for years, I'd gotten pretty good at tellin' when he was a little buzzed so it didn't surprise me at all to see a two six-packs and a bunch of loose cans in Steve's open trunk. Darry rolled his eyes but didn't comment, instead makin' a beeline for Soda and clapping a hand on his shoulder. He lead him away from the group a little and I could see their heads bent close together in conversation but before I could think too much on it, someone's shirt came flying through the air and hit me on the head.

"Come on, Ponykid, we came here to swim, right?!" I looked across and saw Two-Bit bare-chested and grinning like the Cheshire Cat. I laughed and threw his shirt back at him before reaching for the button on my cut-offs.

"Here, Pone," Johnny said, appearing beside me as if from nowhere. "I bought your swimmers for you."

"Thanks, Johnnycake!" I beamed at him, grateful to be better equipped than my last visit to the lake. I quickly ducked behind Steve's car to change, continuing our conversation as I did. "Man, I can't believe you got Dally out here! Especially after last time…"

"Yeah, he weren't too thrilled when we told him where we were headin' but apparently Tim's pissed at him for somethin' or another and spoilin' for a fight so it weren't a good night for him to be walkin' around without backup." He turned to look over his shoulder and I followed his gaze to where Dallas was skulking along the shoreline, eyeing the water suspiciously and had to bite back a laugh. "I think I'm gonna take him to gather some wood for a fire so you and Soda can warm up after."

"Good idea," I agreed and we shared a conspiratory smile before he sauntered off, leaving me alone to wait anxiously for my brothers to finish up their heart to heart.

In the end it was decided that Steve, Soda and I would be the ones to climb up High Rock while everyone else cheered us on from the ground. I guess Soda and Darry had worked this out during their chat as Soda seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing. He whooped along when Steve hauled me up onto his back and ran up the path, bouncing me around all over the place like he was a ornery horse, and laughed when he unceremoniously dropped me once we reached the top. There was a feeling in the air like just before a rumble or a drag race, an excitement tinged with nerves but in the best way.

It wasn't until we neared the edge that the mood changed. We could see the guys watching from below, Darry waving when he spotted us. I immediately raised my arm and waved back, but Soda remained rigid beside me. When I looked at him, his face was ghost white and I could see his knees trembling.

"You ok, Soda?" I asked gently, genuinely concerned he might be about to throw up.

"You got this, buddy!" Steve called from where he was hanging back to avoid crowding us on the ledge. Soda gulped and his eye flicked downwards for just a second before he quickly averted them back towards the horizon.

"Shit," he mumbled, swiping at his clammy forehead. "Maybe this wasn't too hot of an idea, Pony."

"You wanna go back down?" I asked, keeping my voice low so Steve wouldn't hear. This was between me and my brother. He shook his head adamantly despite every part of his body language screaming the opposite.

"I promised you we were gonna fly, right? So that's exactly what we're gonna do." He sucked in a great breath and squared his shoulders, a determined set to his jaw. "You better hold my hand tight, kid. I'm about as shit-scared as I've ever been."

"I got you, Soda," I assured him, reaching out to take his hand in mine and slowly starting to walk us out towards the edge. "We're gonna do this together, just like we talked about."

I could see the guys clapping and hollering for us, but the sound was weirdly muted, like I was already underwater. Darry had rolled up his jeans and waded in, shielding his eyes so he could see us better against the late summer sun. Somehow he must've known I was lookin' at him because he raised his other hand and gave us a thumbs up, signalling we were good to go. I took a deep breath and squeezed my brother's hand, understanding it was my turn to take the lead.

I didn't even have to say anything as Soda's eyes met mine. He nodded his head and kept his gaze locked on me as I slowly bent my knees, copying my movements as I readied us for the jump. I licked my lips, quickly deciding it would be a good idea to count us down.

"Ok, on my count, Soda! Ready?" He was gripping my hand so tightly it was crushing my fingers but he didn't break eye contact and in that moment I understood that he was trusting me with his life. "Three…Two…One!"

And then, like magic, we were flying.

* * *

_Just a quick chapter to tie up the loose ends! Thank you so much for reading this little story, I hope you've enjoyed it! _

_If anyone has ideas for future stories or prompts they'd like to see written, PM me or write it in a review. I only do domestic discipline and tend to be pretty Ponyboy-focused in my work, but other than that it's fun to try different scenarios! _


End file.
